[Pott's disease before antibercular agents: from Pott to Ménard]

Abstract

Percival Pott (1714-1788), an eminent surgeon, has given his name to a spinal pathology with curvature due to tuberculous abscesses; he was the first to show that it may cause paralysis of the lower limbs and that tragic consequences could be avoided or reversed through surgery. Victor Auguste Ménard (1854-1934) played a major role in the orthopaedic treatment of this disease in the Maritime Hospital of Berck-sur-Mer where he was the founder of a surgeon school. In 1900, he published a work entitled : A Practical Study of Pott's Disease. Since there were no antibiotics to treat tuberculosis and because most patients were children, they had to be submitted to intensive care. Ménard's treatment consisted of a complete and long immobilization associated to strict rules of hygiene, involving sun and sea-air therapy. The use of surgery in some cases recalls Pott's general principles.