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Garibaldi and the Surgeons

2001; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 94; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1177/014107680109400517

1758-1095

Ornella Moscucci,

History of Medical Practice

The illnesses of politicians and military leaders are interesting from a historical point of view not only because they impinge on government business and the conduct of war: since they are usually well documented, they can also provide useful insights into medical practice and belief in the past. In the case of Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882), the leading force in the unification of Italy, there was controversy over the treatment of the bullet wound he had received during his abortive march on Rome in the summer of 1862—the detection of the bullet being particularly difficult at a time before X-rays were available. Furthermore, delicate questions of medical etiquette arose against the backdrop of nationalistic interests, as clinicians from four countries, including Britain and France, became involved. Finally, the dispute was settled thanks to a new surgical instrument, ‘Nelaton's probe’, named after the French surgeon who invented it. These circumstances and Garibaldi's enormous popularity meant that the case received extensive coverage in the British medical press, providing a minutely detailed account of a surgical dilemma of the nineteenth century.