caption death_date death_place birth_place influences image_size nationality field birth_date known_for image article_title name
karl koller march 21 , 1944 new york , united states schüttenhofen , bohemia -lrb- modern czech republic -rrb- sigmund freud 200px austria ophthalmology december 3 , 1857 cocaine as a local anaesthetic karl koller.jpg karl koller -lrb- ophthalmologist -rrb-
 karl koller
karl koller -lrb- ophthalmologist -rrb-

karl koller -lrb- december 3 , 1857 -- march 21 , 1944 -rrb- was an austrian ophthalmologist who began his medical career as a surgeon at the vienna general hospital and a colleague of sigmund freud .
koller introduced cocaine as a local anaesthetic for eye surgery .
prior to this discovery , he had tested solutions such as chloral hydrate and morphine as anaesthetics in the eyes of laboratory animals without success .
freud was fully aware of the pain-killing properties of cocaine , but koller recognized its tissue-numbing capabilities , and in 1884 demonstrated its potential as a local anaesthetic to the medical community .
koller 's findings were a medical breakthrough .
prior to his discovery , performing eye surgery was difficult because the involuntary reflex motions of the eye to respond to the slightest stimuli .
later , cocaine was also used as a local anaesthetic in other medical fields such as dentistry .
in the 20th century , other agents such as xylocaine have replaced cocaine as a local anaesthetic .
in 1888 , karl koller moved to the united states and practiced ophthalmology in new york .
he received many distinctions in his career , including being honored by the american ophthalmological society as the first recipient of the `` lucien howe medal '' in 1922 .
this award is given to physicians in recognition of outstanding achievements in ophthalmology .
in 1930 he was also honored by the medical association of vienna .
one of koller 's patients was a blind ten-year-old boy named chauncey d. leake .
leake recovered his sight and , as an adult , discovered the anaesthetic divinyl ether .
koller was reputedly nicknamed `` coca koller '' for his association with the drug and although he was implored to recognise his status as a public figure due to his discovery of local anaesthesia , he did not engage in autobiography .
