Hans von Gersdorff

views updated

Hans von Gersdorff

1454-1517

German surgeon who advanced the emerging profession of surgery by stopping the bleeding associated with amputation of limbs by applying pressure to the limbs and blood vessels. Gersdorff also published a book on surgery in which he first pictured an amputation of a leg. At that time the surgeon would wrap the wound on either side of the limb to be amputated and then cover the stump with the bladder of a bull or hog.

More From encyclopedia.com