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Advances in surgery under the Second French Empire of Napoleon III (1852–1870)

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Summary

Background

After the February Revolution in France in 1848, Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, the nephew of Emperor Napoleon I, became the first President of the French Republic. On December 2, 1852, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed the Second Empire by becoming Emperor of the French under the name of Napoleon III. This period corresponds to the Industrial Revolution in France, marked by notable medical advances that allowed surgery to also enter into the modern era.

Methods

In this historical study, we assessed the surgical advances during the period of the Second Empire until 1870.

Results

We detailed the implementation of general anaesthesia in surgical procedures as well as the uncertainties it caused in its beginning and the efforts led by the surgical community to reduce the rate of postoperative infections, but also the technological advances of the industrial era leading to the discovery of surgical haemostasis.

Conclusion

This study highlights the work of the greatest French surgeons who practiced under the Second Empire of Napoleon III, a period which saw the birth of modern surgery in France.

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Acknowledgements

Alexandre Roux would like to thank the Nuovo-Soldati Foundation for Cancer Research, the Association Amicale des Anciens Internes en Médecine des Hôpitaux de Paris (AAIHP), www.aaihp.fr, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF) and the Bibliothèque Inter-Université Médecine Santé (BIU Santé) for their support.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Service de Neurochirurgie, GHU Paris Psychiatrie et Neurosciences, Site Sainte Anne, 75014, Paris, France

    Alexandre Roux MD PhD, Giorgia Antonia Simboli MD, Marc Zanello MD PhD & Johan Pallud MD PhD

  2. Université Paris Cité, Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Paris (IPNP), INSERM U1266, 75014, Paris, France

    Alexandre Roux MD PhD, Giorgia Antonia Simboli MD, Marc Zanello MD PhD & Johan Pallud MD PhD

Authors
  1. Alexandre Roux MD PhD
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  2. Giorgia Antonia Simboli MD
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  3. Marc Zanello MD PhD
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  4. Johan Pallud MD PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexandre Roux MD PhD.

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Conflict of interest

A. Roux, G.A. Simboli, M. Zanello and J. Pallud declare that they have no competing interests.

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Roux, A., Simboli, G.A., Zanello, M. et al. Advances in surgery under the Second French Empire of Napoleon III (1852–1870). Eur Surg 55, 26–30 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10353-022-00784-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10353-022-00784-6

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