page_title: Diego de Argumosa
section_title: Innovations
hierarchical_section_title: Diego de Argumosa / Innovations
caption_attribution_description: Español: Una de las láminas que acompañan al Resumen de cirugía (1856), de Diego Argumosa (Instituto de Historia de la Medicina y de la Ciencia López Piñero —Universitat de València-CSIC). Leyenda: 1. Sierra de cresta de gallo para regiones prominentes 2. Sierra de Heine con cadena dentada para regiones profundas 3. Sierra de Charriere para regiones profundas 4. Sierra de M.Martin con su mango 5. Sierra de cadena de Aitken 6. Aguja reducida a la mitad de su largo para franquear paso a la cadena después de prendido el gancho de ésta en el ojo de aquélla. 7. mango (mutilado) de la Sierra de tres potencias con espigones a,a, cilíndricos y b con cuello y cabeza. 8. Escuadra auxiliar que después de haber perforado con su pirámide a, se fija en él con el tirafondo b para que sujeto el hueso ceda a la sierra, y con su hendidura desde el agujero circular c hasta abajo. 9. Sierra de tres potencias con agujero central para recibir el espigón de cuello, y otros tres 1ª, 2ª y 3ª, iguales y equidistantes para recibir a su vez los otros dos espigones.
context_page_description: Diego Manuel de Argumosa y Obregón was a Spanish doctor and the chair of surgery of the School of Medicine at the University of Madrid. Known as "the restorer of Spanish surgery," he was an innovator in the field of medical science. He is recognized for running the first clinical trial and for encouraging the use of anesthesia in Spain, introducing ether in 1847.
  Argumosa gained much of his experience and knowledge serving as a doctor during the Peninsular War at the San Rafael Hospital in Santander, Spain. In addition to his medical innovations, he was known for providing care in a famous case where the Spanish nun Sor Patrocinio claimed to suffer from stigmata.
  Argumosa was a member of the Progressive Party, and he was the second mayor of Madrid and the deputy for the province of Madrid in 1836 and 1837. He was appointed as the physician to Queen Isabel II, a position he never chose to accept.
  After the death of his family and his retirement at the age of 62, Argumosa retired to his hometown. He later died in Torrelavega, Cantabria, Spain.
context_section_description: Argumosa introduced ether-induced anesthesia to Spain on 13 January 1847, only three months after John Collins Warren and William T. G. Morton first demonstrated its use in Boston, and only months after it was tested by François Magendie at the Paris Academy of Medicine. He attached a cow's bladder containing one ounce of ether to the patient's mouth with a metal cannula, which they would breathe. Afterwards, he also used chloroform to anesthetize the patient.
  Argumosa also developed new surgical techniques, and improved upon existing surgical practices. He changed the position of the patient during surgery, operating on them when they were lying down instead of the seated position that was generally used, so that they could better withstand the pain of the procedure. He developed new techniques to amputate the thigh and the anal fistula, which he described in his monographs. He invented the "basted suture," which he used to treat aneurysms. He also was among the first to practice phlebotomy, suturing the tear in a vein. He developed an intestinal suture that could be naturally expelled from the channel through which it was placed, which did not necessitate the laparotomic incision that was previously required for suture removal.
  Some of his innovations were in the field of general medicine: he was an early practitioner of asepsis, taking exceptional care to clean his hands, instruments, and the operating room. He isolated patients while they were undergoing surgery, instead of operating in a room with other patients.
  He was also an innovator in the field of otorhinolaryngology. He developed the blepharoplasty technique to remove tumors in the lower eyelid, cancers of the cheekbone, and to treat the loss of the outer part of the eyelids. He developed the cheiloplasty technique to treat lip cancers. He improved the rhinoplasty technique. He also developed the syringotome, a special type of scalpel.
  Among his developments in urology were his technique to puncture the bladder (cytotomy), various methods of removing urinary calculi, external and internal urethrotomies, the subcutaneous ligation of varicocele veins using the fisherman's knot, and genital operations.
  Argumosa also contributed to the field of arthrology, although it was his students who developed upon his work. He founded a school that was continued by two of his primary students: Juan Creus, a forefather of taurotraumatology (bullfighting injuries), and Melchor Sánchez de Toca.
  In 1854, he retired to Torrelavega to write Resumen de Cirugía (Summary of Surgery), which was published in 1856. The work described the general knowledge of surgery at that time and all of his innovations, and was accompanied by illustrations and descriptions of the surgical instruments that he had created for his procedures.
caption: Surgical instruments used by Diego de Argumosa. The illustration accompanied Argumosa's Resumen de Cirugía, and was created by his daughter Natalia.
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