Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Mario Donati and the Vertical Mattress Suture of the Skin

  • SURGICAL HISTORY
  • Published:
World Journal of Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Mario Donati (1879–1946) was one of the foremost European surgeons of the early 20th century. During an impressive carrier as surgeon, teacher, and innovator he authored more than 200 scientific works. Already as a young teacher he won the admiration of his colleagues: “His lectures were models of clarity and conviction, his originality and brilliance as a surgeon have well earned [him] a place among the most famous of the clinical masters of surgery of all eras” (Mario Donati. J. Int. Coll. Surg. 1946;9:739). The present review offers a brief biographical sketch of Donati’s life and career, presents an eyewitness account of the origin of the Donati stitch, and discusses a possible precursor of this suture technique in the Middle Ages. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, the authors would like to pay a special homage to Mario Donati, who due to his Jewish ancestry was removed from his office as Professor of Surgery at the University of Milan in 1938 and died shortly after his return from exile in Switzerland.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Donati M. Chirurgia dell’ulcera gastrica e dei postumi della medesima. Torino, Carlo-Clausen, 1905;1–348

    Google Scholar 

  2. Dietz UA, Debus E-S, Hirt ALA, et al. Buttom zum Valtrac Ring: 100 Jahre auf der Suche nach einem Paradigma. Zentralbl Chir 1999;124:653–656

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Dietz UA, Debus ES, Weisser Ch. Vom Abenteuer der Darmnaht in der Antike zur Routine-Anastomose der Moderne. In Dietz UA, Debus ES, editors, Resektions- und Rekonstruktions-verfahren in der Viszeralchirurgie. Textbuch und Atlas der bio-fragmentierbaren Anastomose. Heidelberg, Kaden-Verlag, 2002;1–38

    Google Scholar 

  4. Fischer I. Biographisches Lexikon der hervorragenden Ärzte der letzten fünfzig Jahre. Berlin, Urban & Schwarzenberg, 1932;I:326

  5. Fischer I, Voswinckel P. Biographisches Lexikon der hervorragenden Ärzte der letzten fünfzig Jahre. Nachträge und Ergänzungen. Hildesheim, Olms 2003;III:333

  6. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani. Roma, 1992;41:51–53

    Google Scholar 

  7. Enciclopedia Modenese. Modena, Nogarine, 1990;VII:75

    Google Scholar 

  8. Natale L di. Un maestro della chirurgia: Mario Donati. Milano, Galileo, 1946;1–11

  9. Donati M. Lezioni di clinica chirurgica. Campo Universitario d’Internamento Militare, Universitá di Ginevra. Fundo Europeo di Soccorso agli Studenti, Ginevra, 1944;1–115

  10. Biancheri A. Mario Donati. Arch Ital Chir 1946;68:78–110

    Google Scholar 

  11. Scritti medici in onore del professore Mario Donati nel XXV anno di insegnamento. Arch Ital Chir Bologna, Cappelli, 1938;Vol. I,1–755

  12. Staudacher AL (2002) Jüdische Konvertiten in Wien 1782–1868. Frankfurt/Main, Peter–Lang, 2002;I:460;II:1–732

  13. Biancheri A. Mario Donati e la mano del chirurgo. Min Chir 1946;1:380–382

    Google Scholar 

  14. Schlatter A. Atheistische Methoden in der Theologie. Beitr. Förderung Christl. Theol. 1905;5:229–249. [English translation by Bauer D. Schlatter A. Atheistic methods in theology. Asbury Theol J 1996;51:45–57]

  15. Ascoli R. Mario Donati (1879–1946). Urologia 1946;13:73–75

    Google Scholar 

  16. Mario Donati. J Int Coll Surg 1946;9:739

  17. Biancheri A. Lesione traumatiche della regione scapolare. Bologna, Libreria-Cappelli, 1921;1–210

    Google Scholar 

  18. Donati M, Parlavecchio G. Patologia e clinica delle ptosi gastro-intestinali. Rif Med 1921;37:1069–1071

    Google Scholar 

  19. Donati M. Terapia chirurgica in alcuni casi di splancnoptosi, con speciale riguardo alla terapia delle stenosi da posizione piloro-duodenali ed ileo-coliche. Rif Med 1921;37:1074–1076

    Google Scholar 

  20. Choulant JL. History and bibliography of anatomic illustration. New York, Hafner-Publishing, 1945;1–435. [English translation of: Chloulant JL. Geschichte und Bibliographie der Anatomischen Abbildung. Leipzig, Rudolf-Weigel, 1858;1–203]

  21. Sudhoff K. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Anatomie im Mittelalter. Leipzig, Johann-Ambrosius-Barth, 1908;1–94, 24 figures

    Google Scholar 

  22. MacKinney L. Medical Illustrations in medieval manuscripts. London, Wellcome-Historical-Medical-Library, 1965;1–263

    Google Scholar 

  23. Samuel Cooper. Handbuch der Chirurgie. Weimar, 1821;Vol. III, 218–224

  24. Nockemann PF. Nahttechniken und Nahtmaterialien. In Hartel W, Keminger K, Rehner M, Reith HB, Schreiber HW, editors, Viszeralchirurgie–Quellen. Entwicklung. Status. Reinbeck, Einhorn-Presse-Verlag, 2001;125–236

    Google Scholar 

  25. Dietz UA, Debus ES. Intestinal anastomoses prior to 1882; a legacy of ingenuity, persistence, and research form a foundation for modern gastrointestinal surgery. World J Surg 2005;29:396–401

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Snow SN, Goodmann MM, Lemke BN. The shorthand vertical matress stitch—a rapid skin everting suture technique. J Dermatol Surg Oncol 1989;15:379–381

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Trimbos JB, Mouw R, Ranke G, et al. The Donati stitch revisited: favorable cosmetic results in a randomized clinical trial. J Surg Res 2002;107:131–134

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Allgöwer M. Besonderheiten der chirurgischen Weichteil-Technik bei Unterschenkelfrakturen. In Müller ME, Allgöwer M, Willenegger H, editors, Technik der operativen Frakturenbehandlung, Heidelberg, Springer-Verlag, 1963;111–114

    Google Scholar 

  29. Blair LC. A new skin suture. Med Rec Ann 1964;57:418–420

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Halsted WS. The radical cure of groin hernia. Johns Hopkins Hosp Bull 1889;1:12–13

    Google Scholar 

  31. Lexer E. Lehrbuch der allgemeinen Chirurgie. I Band. Stuttgart, Ferdinand-Enke, 1916;24–25

Download references

Acknowledgments

Our special thanks go to the librarians of the University Library of Würzburg, the Institute of the History of Medicine of the University of Würzburg, the Central Library of the University of Zurich, the Library of the History of Medicine Institute in Zurich, the University Library of Basel, and the University Library of Erlangen-Nuremberg for making available to us the textbooks of surgery from the 16th to the 19th centuries. We are also grateful to the Bibliotca Estense Universitaria, Modena, for providing biographical data, and to the Wellcome Library, London, for providing Figure 2.

Our thanks go also to Mr. Oliver Bryk of San Francisco, CA, for his valuable support in our research on the Donati family.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Surgical Clinic I (General and Gastrointestinal Surgery), University of Wuerzburg, Oberduerrbacher Str. 6, Wuerzburg, 97080, Germany

    Ulrich A. Dietz MD & Arnulf Thiede MD

  2. Surgical Clinic II (Hand and Plastic Surgery), University of Wuerzburg, Oberduerrbacher Str. 6, Wuerzburg, 97080, Germany

    Ingo Kuhfuß MD

  3. Department of General, Vascular and Gastrointestinal Surgery at Harburg, Eissendorfer Pferdeweg 51, Hamburg, D-21075, Germany

    Eike-Sebastian Debus MD

Authors
  1. Ulrich A. Dietz MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ingo Kuhfuß MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Eike-Sebastian Debus MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Arnulf Thiede MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ulrich A. Dietz MD.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dietz, U.A., Kuhfuß, I., Debus, ES. et al. Mario Donati and the Vertical Mattress Suture of the Skin. World J. Surg. 30, 141–148 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-005-0201-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-005-0201-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation