Jan Mikulicz-Radecki

Jan Mikulicz-Radecki (in German: Johann(es) Freiherr von Mikulicz-Radecki) was a Polish-Austrian surgeon. He was born May 16, 1850 in Czernowitz in the Austrian Empire (present-day Chernivtsi in Ukraine) and died June 4, 1905 in Breslau, German Empire (present-day Wrocław, Poland).

While his mother Freiin von Damnitz was Austrian, his parental ancestors of the Mikulicz family were of Polish-Lithuanian szlachta origin and had been granted the Gozdawa coat of arms by King John III Sobieski after the 1683 Battle of Vienna. Mikulicz-Radecki spoke Polish, German, Russian and English fluently. When asked his nationality he used to answer "surgeon".^[1] After finishing studies at the University of Vienna under Theodor Billroth he was a director of surgery at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, the University of Königsberg (Kaliningrad) and from 1890 at the University of Wrocław.

Mikulicz-Radecki's innovations in operative technique for a wide variety of diseases helped develop modern surgery. He contributed prodigiously to cancer surgery, especially on organs of the digestive system. He was first to suture a perforated gastric ulcer (1885), surgically restore part of the oesophagus (1886), remove a malignant part of the colon (1903), and describe what is now known as Mikulicz’ disease.

In 1881 he developed improved models of the esophagoscope and gastroscope. As an ardent advocate of antiseptics he did much to popularize Joseph Lister's antiseptic methods. He created a gauze mask and was the first to use gloves during surgery.

Mikulicz-Radecki was a talented amateur pianist and a friend of Johannes Brahms.^[2]

Associated eponyms

• Heineke-Mikulicz pyloroplasty: reconstruction of the pyloric channel with a longitudinal incision of the pylorus, and suturing the incision transversely. Named along with German surgeon Hermann Heineke (1834–1901). (Dorlands Medical Dictionary)
• Heineke-Mikulicz strictureplasty: one of two procedures commonly employed to relieve fibrotic strictures of the small bowel, the other being Finney strictureplasty.
• Mikulicz's cells: Vesicular cells found in the diseased tissue in cases of rhinoscleroma and containing Klebsiella rhinoscleromatis. (Who Named It?)
• Mikulicz's disease: Benign lymphocytic infiltration and enlargement of the lacrimal and salivary glands. It is often referred to as benign lymphoepithelial lesion. (The Free Dictionary)
• Mikulicz's drain: Process of pushing successive layers of gauze into a wound or cavity. (Who Named It?)
• Mikulicz's enterotome (Historical term): A special scissors developed by Guillaume Dupuytren. An enterotome is used in abdominal surgery.
• Mikulicz's mask (Historical term): Gauze-covered frame worn over nose and mouth during an operation.
• Mikulicz's pad (Historical term): A gauze-pad used in abdominal surgery
• Mikulicz's syndrome: Symptoms characteristic of Mikulicz's disease when occurring as a complication of another disease, such as leukemia or sarcoidosis. (Who Named It?)
• Mikulicz-Vladimiroff operation; also Mikulicz-Vladimiroff amputation (Historical term): resection of the foot in diseases of the talus and calcaneus. (Who Named It?)

References

External links

• http://www.dbc.wroc.pl/dlibra/collectiondescription?dirids=171