Claude Pouteau

Claude Pouteau was the son of a surgeon, from whom he received his first medical education. He then studied in Paris, where he had as masters Jean-Louis Petit, Henri François Le Dran and Sauveur François Morand.:fr:Charles Ozanam, article "Pouteau (Claude)", in Louis-Gabriel Michaud, Biographie universelle ancienne et moderne, t. 34, Desplaces, p. 250, [https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k51674f/f255 online]. Once his thesis was defended, he returned to Lyon, where he was appointed junior surgeon at the Hôtel-Dieu in 1744. He succeeded Pierre Grassot as major surgeon at the Hôtel-Dieu and continued, like the latter, to promote vaccination against smallpox.Louis Paul Fischer and Khadija Touil, "Claude Pouteau (1725-1775), chirurgien de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon : son asepsie au moyen de l'eau, du feu et du linge propre", in Histoire des sciences médicales, 1998, vol. 32, n° 1, p. 27–37, spec. p. 31, [https://www.biusante.parisdescartes.fr/sfhm/hsm/HSMx1998x032x001/HSMx1998x032x001x0027.pdf online]. In 1753 he turned to private practice, where he was very successful.

In 1755 he was made a member of the Academy of Sciences, Belles-Lettres et Arts de Lyon.Dominique Saint-Pierre, Dictionnaire historique des académiciens de Lyon : 1700-2016, 2017, [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/983829759 search online].

Pouteau was a very human doctor. For example, he put an end to the lithotomy operations performed in a row (the spectators saw several operations, but the patients were waiting amidst the cries of those who preceded them).Louis Paul Fischer and Khadija Touil, "Claude Pouteau (1725-1775), chirurgien de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon : son asepsie au moyen de l'eau, du feu et du linge propre", in Histoire des sciences médicales, 1998, vol. 32, n° 1, p. 27–37, spec. p. 30, [http://www.biusante.parisdescartes.fr/sfhm/hsm/HSMx1998x032x001/HSMx1998x032x001x0027.pdf online]. Yet it was Pouteau who, for his use of fire, was accused of cruelty by its competitors.See for example a work hostile to Pouteau: Avis d'un serviteur d'Esculape, sur les Mélanges de chirurgie : aux citoyens de Lyon, 1761, [https://books.google. be/books?id=Qz9FAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false online].

He died of a skull fracture following a fall.

Pouteau made numerous observations on cancer, on fire in the treatment of rheumatism and other diseases,« Première observation », in Œuvres posthumes, t. 2, p. 2, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0hm3HTopvSgC&pg=PA2 online]. on the properties of the pores of the skin, on pulmonary tuberculosis and on the rickets.

A century before Ignaz Semmelweis, Pouteau understood that, in hospitals, infection was not transmitted only through the air, but through direct contact with the surgeon's hands, dressings and instruments. and he deduced asepsis measures.Louis Paul Fischer et Khadija Touil, "Claude Pouteau (1725-1775), chirurgien de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon : son asepsie au moyen de l'eau, du feu et du linge propre", in Histoire des sciences médicales, 1998, vol. 32, no. 1, p. 27–37, [http://www.biusante.parisdescartes.fr/sfhm/hsm/HSMx1998x032x001/HSMx1998x032x001x0027.pdf online].

It's not just the unsanitary air that he blames for cases of gangrene or "pourriture d'hôpital" ("hospital rot") (which often turned minor injuries into serious disabilities). Against what he calls the "gangrenous virus", he prescribes:

• that the hands of surgeons and caregivers are washed;
• that single-use paper or cardboard be used in dressings;Louis Paul Fischer et Khadija Touil, "Claude Pouteau (1725-1775), chirurgien de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon : son asepsie au moyen de l'eau, du feu et du linge propre", in Histoire des sciences médicales, 1998, vol. 32, no. 1, p. 27–37, spec. p. 30, [http://www.biusante.parisdescartes.fr/sfhm/hsm/HSMx1998x032x001/HSMx1998x032x001x0027.pdf online].
• that the linen used for dressings is no longer reused for this purpose;
• that the lint be made outside the hospital by clean hands and brought in gradually.Louis Paul Fischer et Khadija Touil, "Claude Pouteau (1725-1775), chirurgien de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon : son asepsie au moyen de l'eau, du feu et du linge propre", in Histoire des sciences médicales, 1998, vol. 32, no. 1, p. 27–37, spec. p. 30, [http://www.biusante.parisdescartes.fr/sfhm/hsm/HSMx1998x032x001/HSMx1998x032x001x0027.pdf online].

Pouteau described a wide variety of forearm fractures. It is sometimes said that he was the first to describe the Colles' fracture (which is sometimes called the Pouteau-Colles fracture), but, according to P. Liverneaux, it is not the case.P. Liverneaux, "Qu'a vraiment décrit Pouteau dans les fractures du poignet?" ("What wrist fracture did Pouteau actually describe?"), Chirurgie de la main, 2004, 23, 6, p. 298-304, [https://www.infona.pl/resource/bwmeta1.element.elsevier-8c2aa46a-c9bd-35c6-ad82-efd8ef97c632 abstract online in French], [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15651245/ abstract online in English].

• Lithotome at the level ("taille au niveau").Claude Pouteau, La taille au niveau. Mémoire sur la lithotomie par l'appareil latéral, circonstances et dépendances, avec addition de quelques nouveaux instruments pour cette opération, Avignon, 1765, [https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5772741k online] .
• Incision through the inside of the eyelid (to avoid visible scars) in the case of obstruction of the lacrimal passages.Louis Paul Fischer et Khadija Touil, "Claude Pouteau (1725-1775), chirurgien de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon : son asepsie au moyen de l'eau, du feu et du linge propre", in Histoire des sciences médicales, 1998, vol. 32, no. 1, p. 27–37, spec. p. 29, [http://www.biusante.parisdescartes.fr/sfhm/hsm/HSMx1998x032x001/HSMx1998x032x001x0027.pdf online].
• "Modifications in various operating areas: ligatures of the :fr:omentum in strangulated hernia, dressings of fistulas in the anus, arterial ligatures in amputations, reduction of joint dislocations etc."Louis Paul Fischer et Khadija Touil, "Claude Pouteau (1725-1775), chirurgien de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon : son asepsie au moyen de l'eau, du feu et du linge propre", in Histoire des sciences médicales, 1998, vol. 32, no. 1, p. 27–37, spec. p. 29, [http://www.biusante.parisdescartes.fr/sfhm/hsm/HSMx1998x032x001/HSMx1998x032x001x0027.pdf online].

• Mélanges de chirurgie, Lyon, Geofroy Regnault, 1760, [https://books.google.com/books?id=QD9FAAAAcAAJ&pg=PR1 online].
• Essai sur la rage, 1763, [https://books.google.com/books?id=DVEaXLO-FRUC online].
• La taille au niveau. Mémoire sur la lithotomie par l'appareil latéral, circonstances et dépendances, avec addition de quelques nouveaux instruments pour cette opération, Avignon, 1765, [https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5772741k online].
• Œuvres posthumes, edited and enlarged by Jean Colombier, 1783: [https://books.google.com/books?id=-olEAAAAcAAJ&pg=PR1 t.1 online]; [https://books.google.com/books?id=0hm3HTopvSgC&pg=PP7T. 2 online]; [https://books.google.com/books?id=Q0BFAAAAcAAJ&pg=PP9 t. 3 online].
• Claude Pouteau and Georg Ludwig Rumpelt, Vermischte Schrifften von der Wundarzneykunst, Dresden and Warsaw, 1764.[http://www.worldcat.org/title/vermischte-schrifften-von-der-wundarzneykunst/oclc /257464800&referer=brief_results Search on worldcat.org.]

• At Duke University."Claude Pouteau manuscript, undated [1772]", [https://archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/trent-pouteauclaude description online].

• Avis d'un serviteur d'Esculape, sur les Mélanges de chirurgie : aux citoyens de Lyon, 1761, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Qz9FAAAAcAAJ online]. (Hostile to Pouteau.)
• L. J. Bégin, "“Pouteau (Claude)", in Nicolas Philibert Adelon, Dictionnaire des sciences médicales, t. 6, Paris, Panckoucke, 1812, p. 490, [https://archive.org/stream/dictionairedessc06adeluoft#page/490/mode/2up online].
• Louis Paul Fischer et Khadija Touil, "Claude Pouteau (1725-1775), chirurgien de l'Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon : son asepsie au moyen de l'eau, du feu et du linge propre", in Histoire des sciences médicales, 1998, vol. 32, no. 1, p. 27–37, [https://www.biusante.parisdescartes.fr/sfhm/hsm/HSMx1998x032x001/HSMx1998x032x001x0027.pdf online].
• :fr:Charles Ozanam, article "Pouteau (Claude)", in Louis-Gabriel Michaud, Ancient and modern universal biography, t. 34, Desplaces, p. 250, [https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k51674f/f255 online].
• Khadija Touil, Contribution à la biographie de Claude Pouteau (1725–1775), chirurgien-major de l'hôtel-Dieu de Lyon, thesis under the supervision of Louis Paul Fischer, 1996.
• Pierre Crépel and Jean-Pierre Hanno Neidhardt, "Claude Pouteau", in Dominique Saint-Pierre (dir.) Dictionnaire historique des académiciens de Lyon 1700-2016, Lyon, Éditions de l'Académie (4, rue Adolphe Max, 69005 Lyon), 2017, p. 1071-1074.
• (Mainstream press) "Claude Pouteau, un pionnier de la chirurgie lyonnaise", Le Progrès, August 31, 2014, [https://www.leprogres.fr/sortir/2014/08/31/claude-pouteau-un-pionnier-de-la-chirurgie-lyonnaise online].

• Bust by Jean-François Legendre-Héral, a sculptor from Montpellier, at one of the corners of the dome of the Hôtel-Dieu de Lyon.
• Engraving by Augustin de Saint-Aubin.

{{reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pouteau, Claude}}

Category:French surgeons

Category:1724 births

Category:1775 deaths

Category:Accidental deaths from falls