title: [Carl Thiem and quality assurance in trauma surgery around the turn of the century].
abstract: The surgeon Carl Thiem (1850-1917) pursued forward-looking strategies of treatment in emergency surgery as early as the last turn of the century. While he made a lasting mark, especially in the form of milestones in health policy, in the region of Brandenburg, he also radiated a pioneering spirit in the development of emergency surgery throughout the entire German-speaking area of the time. For over two decades he was the editor of the monthly journal Monatsschrift für Unfallheilkunde (Monthly Journal of Emergency Treatment), which he had founded; this, together with his Handbuch der Unfallerkrankungen (Handbook of Emergency Illnesses), published in 1898, and the organization of several international congresses on emergency surgery brought him widespread scientific recognition. The results of detailed statistical surveys and extensive clinical follow-up examinations of patients suffering from fractures led Thiem in 1914 to sharply criticize the then-current methods of treating broken bones. He gave priority to function-oriented goals in treatment, as opposed to the pathomorphological criteria which at the time determined the results of treating broken bones. Thiem's socially critical appeals emphasize a purposeful stand for juster and socially tolerable laws concerning accident victims. With a high local profile and widely accepted within his field, Carl Thiem's memory will continue to be revered today.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Unfall-, Wiederherstellungs- und Handchirurgie, Carl-Thiem-Klinikum Cottbus.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Welz
mesh_terms: D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000266:history / Q000601:surgery; D013502:General Surgery / Q000266:history*; D005858:Germany; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000266:history; D014194:Traumatology / Q000266:history*