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Review
. 2023 May;31(2):85-94.
doi: 10.1177/09677720221082103. Epub 2022 Mar 23.

Why is William Sharp's name forgotten when his novel method for treating fractures of the Ankle is still used today?

Sean P Hughes  1 , G Anne Davies  1
Affiliations
Review

Why is William Sharp's name forgotten when his novel method for treating fractures of the Ankle is still used today?

Sean P Hughes et al. J Med Biogr. 2023 May.

Abstract

In 1837 Guillaume von Dupuytren (1777-1835) wrote that the innovative method of reducing an ankle fracture by relaxing the calf muscles was due to both William Sharp (1729-1810) and Percivall Pott (1714-1788). While history records the many surgical achievements of Percivall Pott, little is known of William Sharp's contribution. He is probably best known as one of a remarkable family portrayed by Johan Zoffany (1733-1810) and exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1781. We review William Sharp's career and contribution as a surgeon to the treatment of fracture/dislocations of the ankle and ask why his concept is not better known today.

Keywords: Fracture /Dislocations of Ankle; Granville Sharp. Johan Zoffany; Guillaume von Dupurtren; Percivall Pott; William Sharp.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Sharp family (1779-1781) by Johan Zoffany, National Gallery London, © Lloyd-Baker estate. William is at the back waving his hat, with his left hand on the tiller.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
William Sharp engraving by Charles Turner from a portrait by J Abbot 1794 © National Portrait Gallery, London.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Pott’s drawings of a fracture dislocation of the ankle where both the medial and lateral malleoli are fractured, and the talus is no longer within the ankle mortise. The Chirurgical Works of Percivall Pott, facing p 313, figure M. (20).
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Sharp family tomb, All Saints Church, Fulham London, where William, Elizabeth Prowse, Granville and Catherine were buried.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Hughes SPF. An Historical Review of Fractures Involving the Ankle Joint. Mayo Clinic Proceedings 1975;50: 611– 614. - PubMed
    1. Grant H. The Good Sharps; The Brothers and Sisters who Remade Their World. London: Chatto & Windus; 2020, 165.
    1. Aspinall A. ed The Later Correspondence of George III, 1798–1801. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1967, 3, 93.
    1. Stigler SM. Stigler’s law of eponymy. Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences 1980; 39: 147– 158.

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