August 8 – On This Day in Medical History

What happened on August 8? Explore notable medical events, breakthroughs, births and deaths from across history in LITFL’s On This Day (OTD)

Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with August 8.

Events

1993 — Australian Commonwealth Minister for Health approved Emergency Medicine as a principal medical specialty. A significant milestone for the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) and the formal recognition of emergency care in Australia and New Zealand


Births

1762Giovanni Battista Montéggia (1762-1815), Italian surgeon; described Montegia Fracture (1812). First to describe the pathology of gonorrhoeal arthritis, Annotazioni pratiche sopra i mali venerei (1794), an observation for which Sir Benjamin Brodie is usually credited.

1763Thomas Spens (1763-1842), Scottish physician provided first written description of  Stokes-Adams syndrome (1792)

1835Thomas George Morton (1835-1903), American general surgeon; described Morton’s neuroma; Morton’s neuralgia and Morton’s metatarsalgia

1914William Alexander McRoberts Jr (1914-2006), American obstetrician; described McRoberts Manoeuvre as a first-line procedure in the management of shoulder dystocia


Deaths

1903Karel Maydl (1853-1903), Czech surgeon; described Maydl’s hernia (1898), Maydl’s Operation [Colostomy] (1883), and Maydl’s Method

1996Harry Angelman (1915-1996), English paediatrician; described Angelman syndrome (1965)


Further reading

BA MA (Oxon) MBChB (Edin) FACEM FFSEM. Emergency physician, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Passion for rugby; medical history; medical education; and asynchronous learning #FOAMed evangelist. Co-founder and CTO of Life in the Fast lane | On Call: Principles and Protocol 4e| Eponyms | Books |