title: Silas Weir Mitchell, MD: the physician who discovered causalgia.
abstract: Silas Weir Mitchell discovered and treated causalgia, a condition most often encountered by hand surgeons. He is considered the father of neurology as well as an early pioneer in scientific medicine. He was also a psychiatrist, toxicologist, author, poet, and a celebrity in America and Europe. His many skills and interests led his contemporaries to consider him a genius on par with Benjamin Franklin. His contributions to medicine and particularly hand surgery continue to resonate today.
authors.affiliation: Section of Plastic Surgery, University of Michigan Medical School, 1500 E Medical Center Drive, 2130 Taubman Center, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0340, USA.
authors.forename: Frank H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Kevin C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Chung
mesh_terms: D002422:Causalgia / Q000209:etiology / Q000266:history*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008887:Military Medicine / Q000266:history; D009462:Neurology / Q000266:history; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000150:complications / Q000266:history