Meet the original ortho bro, Gavriil Ilizarov - The Magician from Kurgan
He made a circular bone fixator using bicycle rims which could lengthen the bone up to 12 inches.
- Born in 1921 to a Jewish family from Dagestan.
- Started formal education late at age 11 due to limited opportunities in his rural village.
- Graduated from the Crimean Medical Institute amid World War II disruptions in 1944.
- Began his career as a general surgeon in a remote village hospital in the Kurgan region of Siberia, where he was often the only doctor for miles, handling a wide range of medical issues including trauma and orthopedics.
- Invented the Ilizarov apparatus in 1950, a circular external fixator for bone lengthening and fracture treatment, inspired by challenges in treating severe fractures with limited resources; proposed his original method for uniting bone fragments.
- He was called a con artist and a crook, as the elite Moscow orthopaedic surgeons couldn't digest the fact that a circular fixator made from bicycle rims and wires could be used for a 12-inch bone-lengthening technique.
- Developed the concept of distraction osteogenesis, a revolutionary technique in orthopedics for gradual bone lengthening and reconstruction, despite initial skepticism and mockery from established physicians in Moscow.
- Gained worldwide attention by successfully treating the complex ankle fracture of Soviet Olympic high jumper Valery Brumel, which had resisted treatment by Western surgeons, demonstrating the effectiveness of his method. It was after this that the Moscow orthopedicians started acknowledging his visionary inventions.
- In 1971, he established the Russian Ilizarov Scientific Center for Restorative Traumatology and Orthopaedics in Kurgan, which grew into an 800-bed facility and became the world's largest orthopedic clinic, allowing him to expand research and train others in his techniques.
- Ilizarov frequently smoked cigarettes. During breaks in the operating room, he would light up a cigarette and use forceps to hold it so that he didn't break the sterile environment.
- Achieved international acclaim as his methods spread globally, treating over 10,000 patients and making Russia a leader in orthopedics; faced challenges in protecting his inventions but trained numerous surgeons while emphasizing proper use to avoid complications.
- Died on July 24, 1992, in Kurgan, Russia, at age 71, leaving a legacy that revolutionized orthopedic surgery through principles of distraction osteogenesis, external fixation, and limb reconstruction, influencing treatments for fractures, deformities, and length discrepancies worldwide.
Estaba viendo la pelicular -Macario- de la pelicular mexicana. me gusto mucho toda la historia.
Me sorprendí de mucha similitud de historia tenia entre la historia de Macario con una historia japonesa llamada -Shinigami- en arte RAKUGO hace muchos años
todo el trama el desarrollo hasta la parte de las velas y la muerte.
Muy curioso que en otro lado del mundo comparta la misma historia.