He studiedmedicine at the newly established École de Médecine in Paris and was appointedprosector, by competition, when only eighteen years of age. His early studies were directed chiefly toanatomical pathology. In 1803 he was appointed assistant surgeon at theHôtel-Dieu in Paris, and in 1811 he became professor of operativesurgery in succession toRaphael Bienvenu Sabatier. In 1816 he was appointed to the chair of clinical surgery and became head surgeon at the Hôtel-Dieu,[4] a post he held until his death. He is buried in thePère Lachaise Cemetery.
Dupuytren visited the Hôtel-Dieu morning and evening, each time performing several operations, lectured to vast throngs of students, gave advice to his outpatients and fulfilled the duties consequent upon one of the largest practices of modern times. By his indefatigable activity he amassed a fortune, the bulk of which he bequeathed to his daughter, with the deduction of considerable sums for the endowment of the anatomical chair in the École de Médecine and the establishment of a benevolent institution for distressed physicians. The most important of Dupuytren's writings is hisTreatise on Accidental Anus, in which he applied the principles laid down byJohn Hunter. In his operations he was remarkable for his skill and dexterity and for his great readiness of resource.[4]
Dupuytren was one of the first surgeons to drain abrain abscess successfully usingtrepanation, in which a hole is cut in the skull, and he also used the method to treatseizures.[5]
He claimed credit for originally describing melanoma and claimed Laennec stole the idea from his lectures.[6]
He reported a case of breast cancerspontaneous remission in which, after the patient refused surgery, the tumour becoming enlarged, rupturing and becoming infected, it began to shrink and disappeared after a few weeks.[7]
He died in Paris and there with his bequest established theMusée Dupuytren.
He was a brilliant teacher, an astute diagnostician and a gifted surgeon. On the other hand, he was extremely critical of students and colleagues who failed to live up to his exacting professional standards. This, along with his desire to be the best of the best, won him numerous critics, not all of them objective. He was described by such colourful epithets as 'The Brigand of Hôtel-Dieu' byJacques Lisfranc and 'First among surgeons, least among men' byPierre-François Percy.
The surgeon Desplein inBalzac's short story 'The Atheist's Mass' is based on Dupuytren.[citation needed][8]
Dupuytren's success at draining a cerebral abscess is referred to inGustave Flaubert'sMadame Bovary: "not Dupuytren, about to open up an abscess through a thick encephalic layer" (Part Two, Chapter 11).
Reference is made inVictor Hugo'sLes Misérables: "Dupuytren and Recamier entered into a quarrel in the amphitheatre of the School of Medicine, and threatened each other with their fists on the subject of the divinity of Jesus Christ."[9]
InDiana Gabaldon's fifth book of the Outlander series,The Fiery Cross,[vague] pp. 1227–1229, Claire balances her future knowledge with current medical notes since the Baron Dupuytren has yet to be born.
^Stone, James L.; Jensen, Randy L. (1 July 1997). "Benjamin Winslow Dudley and Early American Trephination for Posttraumatic Epilepsy".Neurosurgery.41 (1):263–268.doi:10.1097/00006123-199707000-00045.PMID9218316.
Wylock, P (December 1997). "In the footsteps of Guillaume Dupuytren".Acta Chir. Belg.97 (6):277–280.PMID9457317.
Wylock, P (1990). "[Guillaume Dupuytren – 1777–1835]".Acta Chir. Belg.90 (1):1–4.PMID2185601.
Wylock, P (1989). "The life and time of Guillaume Dupuytren".Canadian Journal of Surgery.32 (6):473–477.PMID2684377.
Elliot, D (1988). "The early history of contracture of the palmar fascia. Part 2: The revolution in Paris: Guillaume Dupuytren: Dupuytren's disease".Journal of Hand Surgery (Edinburgh, Scotland).13 (4):371–378.doi:10.1016/0266-7681(88)90158-1.PMID3074150.
Towpik, E (1986). "[Guillaume Dupuytren – an outline of a biography (on the 150th anniversary of his death)]".Wiad. Lek.39 (24):1718–1724.PMID3554771.
Epifanov, N S (1986). "[Guillaume Dupuytren (on the 150th anniversary of his death)]".Khirurgiia (4):151–152.PMID3520110.
Dufour, A (1984). "[Guillaume Dupuytren (1777–1835), Chief Surgeon of the Hôtel-Dieu]".Bull. Acad. Natl. Med.168 (9):1039–1050.PMID6399468.
Hauben, D J (1984). "[Our surgical heritage. Guillaume Dupuytren (1777–1835)]".Zentralblatt für Chirurgie.109 (11):765–766.PMID6382875.
Dupuytren, Guillaume (September 1982). "The classic. On osteo-sarcoma, spina-ventosa, and tubercles in bone: Guillaume Dupuytren".Clin. Orthop. Relat. Res.450 (169):4–14.doi:10.1097/01.blo.0000229310.28384.8c.PMID16951640.
Bloch, H (February 1981). "Guillaume Dupuytren, M.D. (1777–1835). Surgeon of Hôtel Dieu and his American students".New York State Journal of Medicine.81 (2):259–260.PMID7007932.
Kós, R (January 1979). "[Guillaume Dupuytren (1778–1835)]".Orvosi Hetilap.120 (4):230–232.PMID366516.
Mann, R J (1977). "Of Guillaume Dupuytren, who feared nothing but mediocrity".Mayo Clin. Proc.52 (12):819–822.PMID339011.
Lindskog, G E (1977). "Guillaume Dupuytren, 1777 to 1835".Surgery, Gynecology & Obstetrics.145 (5):746–754.PMID333646.
Lyons, J B (October 1975). "Pioneers in medicine: Baron Guillaume Dupuytren; 1777–1835".Nursing Mirror and Midwives Journal.141 (16): 62.PMID1105454.
Poynter, F N (April 1968). "Doctors in The Human Comedy (Guillaume Dupuytren, Jean Baptiste Bouillaud, François Joseph Victor Broussais, François Magendie)".JAMA.204 (1):7–10.doi:10.1001/jama.204.1.7.PMID4867960.
Peltier, L F (May 1958). "Guillaume Dupuytren and Dupuytren's fracture".Surgery.43 (5):868–874.PMID13543661.
Brown, Anthony Gary (2006).The Patrick O'Brian Muster Book: Persons, Animals, Ships and Cannon in the Aubrey-Maturin Sea Novels (2nd ed.).McFarland & Company.ISBN978-0-7864-2482-5.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dupuytren, Guillaume".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 691.
