Heurteloup's Percussion Lithotrite
Hit it with a hammer ...
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Baron Charles Louis Stanislas Heurteloup (1793 -1844) was the first person to practice lithotrity in England. In 1829, he set up practice with the support of Anthony White, surgeon to Westminster Hospital.
Whilst operating on a clergyman in Sanderstead, Heurteloup decided to strike the end of his lithotrite instead of drilling.
He described this "percuteur courbe à marteau" in 1832. To protect the bladder, the patient was positioned on a specially made table (design pictured below) and the lithotrite was stabilised in a vice connected to one end.
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The operating table
Once the instrument is in the bladder, the stone is grasped in the jaws (above) and the end of the instrument is hit with a hammer to fragment the stone. Despite the earlier-described crushing lithotrites, Heurteloup’s percussor was the most popular in the early years of lithotrity.
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