Hugh Owen Thomas - Early life, Professional Career, Works

Orthopaedic surgeon, born in Anglesey, NW Wales, UK. He studied medicine at London, Edinburgh, and Paris, and practised surgery in Liverpool. He pioneered orthopaedic surgery, constructing many appliances which are still used, notably Thomas' splints for the hip and the knee.

Hugh Owen Thomas (1834-1891) was a British surgeon.

Early life

Hugh descended from a family that had originally been settled in Anglesey by a shipwreck in 1745, where a family tradition of bone-setting had been established. Evan Thomas — the grandson of the original survivor, and Hugh’s father — had moved to Liverpool at the age of 19, where he set up a successful practice as bone-setter.

Professional Career

Hugh trained first with his uncle, Dr. Owen Roberts at St. Asaph in North Wales for four years, then he studied medicine at Edinburgh and University College, London. 11, Nelson Street, where he worked all day from five or six in the morning, and every Sunday he would treat patients for free. In the treatment of fractures and tuberculosis he advocated rest, which should be 'enforced, uninterrupted and prolonged'. In order to achieve this he created the so-called 'Thomas Splint', which would stabilise a fractured femur and prevent infection. He is also responsible for numerous other medical innovations that all carry his name: 'Thomas's collar' to treat tuberculosis of the cervical spine, 'Thomas's manoeuvre', an orthopaedic investigation for fracture of the hip joint, 'Thomas's test', a method of detecting hip deformity by having the patient lying flat in bed, 'Thomas's wrench' for reducing fractures, as well as an osteoclast to break and reset bones. McCrae, Hugh Owen Thomas: His Principles and Practice (London, Oxford university press, 1935) Watson, Frederick, Hugh Owen Thomas: A Personal Study (London, Oxford university press, 1934) Le Vay, Abraham David, The life of Hugh Owen Thomas (Edinburgh, 1956) McMurray, Thomas Porter, The life of Hugh Owen Thomas: Centenary Lecture Delivered at the Liverpool Medical Institution (1935)

Works

Diseases of the hip, knee and ankle joints (1876) A review of the past and present treatment of disease in the hip, knee, and ankle joints: With their deformities (1878) The past and present treatment of intestinal obstructions (1879) The treatment of fractures of the lower jaw (1881) Intestinal disease and obstruction (1883) Nerve inhibition and its relation to the practice of medicine (1883) Principles of the treatment of diseased joints (1883) The collegian of 1666 and the collegians of 1885: Or, what is recognised treatment? (1885) The principles of the treatment of fractures and dislocations (1886) Fractures, dislocations, diseases and deformities of the bones of the trunk and upper extremities (1887) A new lithotomy operation (1888) An argument with the censor at St. Luke's Hospital, New York (1889) Fractures, dislocations, deformities and diseases of the lower extremities (1890) Lithotomy (1890)