January 12 – On This Day in Medical History

Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with January 12.

Events

1847 – Joseph François Malgaigne (1806- 1865) was first to use ether anaesthesia in France. He presented his findings at a meeting of the Académie de Médecine just three months after Morton’s success in Boston. [Premiers essais sur l’éther pendant 5 opérations chirurgicales]. This was largely responsible for the rapid adoption of ether throughout France.

1931 – Romanian Eugen Bogdan Aburel (1899-1975) presented the first description of continuous epidural catheter analgesia in childbirth. A breakthrough in obstetric analgesia.

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Births

1908 – Norman Reynolds James (1908-1987), Australian anaesthetist. Invented the James ventilator (1950), and James Autohand ventilator (1964)

1909 – Archibald Leman Cochrane (1909-1988); advocacy of RCTs led to the creation of the Cochrane Library

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Deaths

1997 – Gertrud Dina Schachenmann (1910-1997), Swiss pediatrician; described Smith-Theiler-Schachenmann syndrome (1966)

2015 – Hillel Jonathan Gitelman (1932-2015), American nephrologist; described Gitelman Syndrome (1969)

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Further reading

• Malgaigne JF. Premiers essais sur l’éther pendant 5 opérations chirurgicales avec commentaires. Bulletin de l’Académie de Médecine 1847; 12: 262-264