[Actual privy councillor V.V. Pelikan (1790-1873) and his 'Dissertatio Medico Chirurgica Inauguralis de Aneurysmate' (St. Petersburg, 1816) Part 4. Treatment of arterial aneurysms according to V.V. Pelikan's technique and the beginnings of his teaching on reduced blood circulation].

Abstract

Analysed in the article is translated for the first time from Latin into Russian and introduced into scientific use 'Dissertatio medico chirurgica inauguralis de aneurysmate' (St. Petersburg, 1816) written by Associate Professor of the Imperial Russian Medical and Surgical Academy and then holder of the higher orders of Russian Empire, Actual Privy Councillor V.V. Pelikan (1790-1873). Part 4 of the article contains selected fragments of his dissertation with brief comments dedicated to describing the principles of collateral blood circulation, fundamentals of the teaching on reduced circulation and a method of treatment of an aneurysm by the V.V. Pelikan's technique. The scientific novelty and practical significance of the Dissertation consist in substantiated by the author theoretically, experimentally developed and approved in clinical practice method of ligation of the afferent artery after being dissected proximal to an aneurysm. An important peculiarity of the method suggested by V.V. Pelikan was the idea of simultaneous ligation of the artery and eponymous vein. Introduced in the history of surgery as the 'teaching on reduced blood circulation' (Oppel V.A., 1911), this idea became the first in the Russian medicine development in the area of clinical angiology; suggested by V.V. Pelikan method of ligation of the artery with its dissection was the first priority of Russian vascular surgery and the author himself should be considered the first in Russia vascular surgeon with the degree of Doctor of Medicine and Surgery. It may also be stated that at the beginning of the 19th century, the academic surgical clinic of the Imperial Medical and Surgical Academy was the first surgical clinic containing specialised beds for vascular patients. Stylistically, V.V. Pelikan's dissertation is an heir of European scientific treatises of XVI-XVIII centuries and its language characterises the author as a witty and emotional person.