Der Orthopäde
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Historical Article
[From sciatica to intervertebral disk displacement. On the history of a disease concept].
Since antiquity low back pain spreading down to the buttock and the leg with or without neurological symptoms has repeatedly been described by medical authorities. To extract well defined nosological entities out of the medley of "sciatica" was a demanding process within a labyrinth of often misleading clues. ⋯ The critical appraisal of pathomorphological lesions in patients suffering from sciatica was, as it still is, a challenging task even for experienced physicians. Key texts and their authors recall the main steps towards our modern concept of lumbar intervertebral disk displacement to the readers mind.
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The term orthopaedics was first used by a French physician named Nicolas Andry in 1742. Since then the meaning of the term has changed dramatically. Starting as the planned title of a guidebook for parents it developed to become the name of a new medical discipline. ⋯ Until world war II mostly children were treated by orthopaedic surgeons. After world war II orthopaedic surgeons have adjusted to the demographic change and have increasingly been treating elder patients. The development and the spread of prostheses display the increasing importance of age related illnesses.