Dietmar Wittmann
Dietmar H. Wittmann, M.D., Ph.D., FACS is an academic surgeon specializing in complex abdominal surgery. He was associated with the following medical schools: University of Hamburg, Germany, University of Düsseldorf, Germany, University of California San Francisco Medical School, Hahnemann Medical School, Philadelphia, Medical College of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin Marshfield Campus. In addition to his clinical work, research experience, writing and teaching appointments, he is mostly known for his work relating to intra-abdominal infections, abdominal compartment syndrome and staged abdominal repair. Dr. Wittmann introduced the concept of calculated antimicrobial therapy and is the inventor of a fascia prosthesis for temporary abdominal closure, the Artificial Bur Closure (generic name) or Wittmann Patch (trade name).
Biography
Wittmann was born on June 16, 1940 in Duisburg, Germany and educated in France and Germany before starting medical school in Hamburg, Germany. He studied Medicine at the medical schools of Hamburg, Düsseldorf, as a 3rd year medical student at University of California San Francisco Medical School and then returned to Hamburg University where he graduated summa cum laude. Two years later Dr. Wittmann defended a Ph.D. thesis in Neurophysiology/Toxicology at University of Düsseldorf on the affinity of carbon monoxide to hemoglobin of various laboratory animals and men. Following medical school he continued his surgical training in Hamburg, Philadelphia, Annaba, Algeria, (Mission Chirurgicale de la République Fédérale d' Allemagne) to become Board certified General Surgeon and after an additional two years a Board certified Unfallchirurg (surgeon for soft tissue, visceral and orthopedic trauma).
Professional work
He worked first at the Altona General Hospital of Hamburg University Medical School. His early research was focused on peptic ulcer disease, and highly selective vagotomy and he developed a method to measure gastrin levels in antral vein blood long before sophisticated analysis methods to measure pg levels were established. Concerning antimicrobial therapy of surgical infection he was interested in measuring antibiotic concentrations at the site of infection and analyzed bone chips and body fluids that would have disposed in the course of a surgical procedures. Antibiotic concentrations measures in tissues would then be compared to concentrations required to kill bacteria to serve as foundation of anti-infective therapies. Based on these studies Dr. Wittmann habilitated for Professor of Surgery at University of Hamburg defending his thesis about the concentration dynamics of antimicrobials intra-abdominal infections. In 1972 Dr. Wittmann had the opportunity to work in Annaba, Algeria, and took his young family to Algeria for an anticipated two year commitment. After a year political unrest forced the Wittmanns to return to Germany but by then he had seen many diseases in their advanced stages including abdominal infections. The culmination of experiences led Dr. Wittmann to begin to develop a means to keep the abdominal wall safely open for serial debridement and intra-operative treatment. Early attempts used a variety of closure devices and ultimately Velcro was found to be the best material. In 1988 he joined the faculty at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He became a full Professor of Surgery, Section of Trauma under the leadership of Dr. Robert E. Condon and Dr. Charles Apprahamian. He started the surgical critical care fellowship program at the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1990 and became its first director. In 2001 Dr. Wittmann retired from the medical college but continued his work on devices related staged abdominal repair and temporary abdominal closure devices.