Peter Freyer
Sir Peter Freyer | |
---|---|
Born | 2 July 1851 Galway, Ireland |
Died | 9 September 1921 London, England |
Nationality | Irish |
Education |
|
Occupation | Urologist |
Known for |
|
Medical career | |
Profession | Surgeon |
Institutions | |
Sub-specialties | Urology |
Research | Prostate surgery |
Sir Peter Freyer
He entered the
In England he set up a private practice in Harley Street and was appointed a consulting surgeon in the surgery of the urinary organs at St Peter's Hospital for stone, London. He first performed the procedure of suprapubic prostatectomy in 1900, on a man who then survived 12 years. Although Freyer was not the first to introduce this operation, despite his claim otherwise causing the second significant controversy in his career, he is credited with popularising it. In 1920, he was elected the first president of the section of urology of the Royal Society of Medicine and in his presidential address, claimed to have performed 1,674 of these operations with a low mortality.
The Department of Surgery,
Early life and education
Peter Johnson Freyer, named after his paternal grandfather who was a chief officer in the
Freyer was educated at Erasmus Smith's College,
Indian Medical Service
Admission to the Bengal Medical Service
Freyer came first in the competitive examination for a commission as a
The controversy in India
During his time in India, he became reputable in
Later years in India
In 1894, Freyer represented the Indian government at the International Medical and Surgical Congress in Rome, where he presented his study on 598 cases of bladder stone removal by transurethral lithopaxy, using the same technique as Henry Jacob Bigelow. At the time, the mortality for open lithotomy was 12.5%, but Freyer demonstrated a 1.84% mortality.[14]
Following a promotion to the civil surgeoncy of Benares, he became surgeon to the Prince of Wales Hospital in Benares, later renamed the Shiv Prasad Gupta Hospital.[5][15] His troubles with his superiors in India and an eye injury from an assault by a patient at the Benares asylum contributed to Freyer taking early retirement in 1896 and he returned to England.[3][5] He had served in the IMS for more than 20 years.[13]
Career in London
In 1897, Freyer was appointed a consulting surgeon in the surgery of the urinary organs at
In 1905,
On December 1, 1900, I performed for the first time my operation of total enucleation of the prostate, and in July, 1901, published in the British Medical Journal, for the consideration of the profession at large, a lecture delivered by me at the Medical Graduates' College, giving a full description. of the operation, with details of four successful cases. I have now completed 1,674 cases of the operation, details of 1,550 of which have been recorded in the numerous papers published in the medical journals. I believe I may say that this operation is now almost universally practised by surgeons.[20]
Morson, however, later stated that Freyer performed a total of 1,337 prostatectomies.[23] The number of articles and lectures Freyer gave, in addition to the publicity surrounding the controversies regarding his claims that he had introduced the operation, likely helped make the procedure widely known.[9][21][22] In addition to the scandal in India caused by receiving fees from the Nawab, being accepted into the London's medical circles was not likely helped by being Irish.[13]
John Thomson-Walker, first honorary secretary of the section of urology at the RSM,[26] later described Freyer's surgery as "decided, purposive and rapid, and in some operations, especially that of litholapaxy, the manipulation was graceful".[5]
When Cuthbert Dukes became president of the urology section of the RSM in 1956, he disclosed that when he took up the appointment of pathologist at St Peters 26 years previously, he had come to be in possession of the medical notes and pathological specimen of the prostate removed from Freyer's first transvesical prostatectomy case of John Thomas in 1900. Thomas survived 12 years, and wrote to Freyer in 1912 "I must say I am perfectly right in my urinary organs and for which I shall never be able to thank you enough".[26] The procedure was later superseded by the retropubic prostatectomy popularised by Terence Millin following his publication of the technique in 1945.[27]
Other roles
In 1902, he became examiner in surgery at the
First World War
When the
He received the
Between 10 April 1918 and 10 April 1919, he held a temporary colonelcy in the Royal Army Medical Corps and upon resignation of post was promoted to an honorary full colonelcy on the retired list.[5]
In October 1919, he received an honorary doctorate from the National University of Ireland.[2]
Later career
After the war and with a greater recognition of urology as a specialty, Freyer at the age of 69, was elected the first president of the section of
His presidential address covered the achievements in urology over the previous 45 years and he hoped the section would result in a co-ordination of work in the field of urology. Freyer was succeeded the following year by Lord Horder,[26] and the section continued with meetings and with its annual president's address.[5][28]
Personal and family
Freyer married Isabelle McVittie, daughter of Robert McVittie of Dublin, and they had one son, Dermot Johnston and one daughter, Kathleen Mary. In 1914, Isabelle died.[3]
Freyer was seen to be a "staunch
Death and legacy
Freyer died from a
A portrait of Freyer, painted by Alice Grant in 1919, hangs in the boardroom of St Peter's Hospital for Stone.[2]
Harold Ellis later recalled that Freyer's procedure remained popular for some time, recounting that in 1948, as a house surgeon, he assisted in many of these.[9]
Every year, the Sir Peter Freyer Memorial Lecture and Surgical Symposium, established in 1975 by professor O'Beirn, is hosted by the Department of Surgery,
A detailed account of Freyer is given in C. P. MacLoughlin's "From Sellerna to Harley Street".[30]
In 1980, the Department of Surgery at NUI Galway acquired Freyer's personal papers and memorabilia from his grandsons. Subsequently, in 2002, the James Hardiman Library at the NUI acquired them and now hold around 660 items consisting of his letters, newspaper cuttings, official records, photographs, memorabilia and publications. Other items have also been added.[2]
The Freyer Unit in Galway Clinic is named in his honour.[31]
Selected publications
Articles
- "On the Instruments Required in the Operation of Litholapaxy". PMID 28999493
- "The Symptoms of Stone in the Kidney". The Indian Medical Gazette. Vol. 35, No. 1 (January 1900), pp. 14–15. PMID 29003274
- "A Clinical Lecture on Total Extirpation of the Prostate for Radical Cure of Enlargement of that Organ: With Four Successful Cases: Delivered at the Medical Graduates' College, London, June 26th". British Medical journal. Vol. 2, Issue 2116 (20 July 1901), pp. 125–9.
- "Total Enucleation of the Prostate: A Further Series of 550 Cases of the Operation".
- "President's Address: Modern Progress in Urinary Surgery". PMID 19982053
Books
- Clinical Lectures on the Surgical Diseases of the Urinary Organs. William Wood & Company, New York (1909).
References
- S2CID 221850437.
- ^ NUI Galway. Reference code P57.
- ^ a b c d e f "Sir Peter Freyer Memorial Lecture & Surgical Symposium". Sir Peter Freyer Surgical Symposium. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
- ^ a b "Books & Articles on People in Urology: Sir Peter Freyer". www.baus.org.uk. British Association of Urological Surgeons. 18 April 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Obituary: Sir Peter Freyer, K.C.B., M.A., M.D., ML.CH, Surgeon to St.Peter's Hospital; Lieutenant-Colonel Bengal Army (ret.)" (PDF). The British Medical Journal: 464. 21 September 1921.
- ISBN 9780199233229.
- ^ Freyer, P. J. (Peter Johnston) (1886). The modern treatment of stone in the bladder by litholapaxy : a description of the operation and instruments with cases illustrative of the difficulties and complications met with. Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine. London : J. & A. Churchill. p. 15.
- S2CID 35558312.
- ^ ISBN 1841101818
- ^ a b Crawford, Dirom Grey; London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (1914). A history of the Indian Medical Service, 1600-1913. London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. London : Thacker. p. 180.
- ^ Goddard, J. C. Sir Peter Freyer". Urology News. Vol, 16, No. 4 (May/June 2012), p. 24.
- ^ a b c Fitzpatrick, Kieran. Tense Networks: Exploring medical professionalization, career making and practice in an age of global empire, through the lives and careers of Irish surgeons in the Indian Medical Service, c. 1850- 1920. Thesis for Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of History at the University of Oxford. St John’s College, University of Oxford (2016)
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4612-54768.
- ^ ISSN 1569-9056.
- ^ Uttar Pradesh district gazetteers. The University of California. 1965. p. 373.
- ^ .
- ISBN 1-86059-145-0.
- ^ a b Morson, Clifford (1 August 1949) "Sir Peter Freyer and Sir John Thomson Walker". Editorial in the Postgraduate Medical Journal. pp. 353-358.
- ^ "Suprapubic Prostatectomy | The British Association of Urological Surgeons Limited". www.baus.org.uk. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
- ^ PMID 19982053.
- ^ PMID 20760633.
- ^ PMID 13774790.
- British Medical Journal. P. 888.
- British Medical Journal. P. 1780.
- ^ "Tre Treatment of Benign Enlargement of Prostate". British Association of Urological Surgeons Scientific held at the Royal College of Surgeons, Lincoln’s Inn Fields on 28 June 1946. The British Journal of Urology. Vol. 18, No. 3 (September 1946), pp. 105-121.
- ^ PMID 13431895.
- ^ Goddard, J. C. (January/February 2019)."The history of the prostate, part one: say what you see". Trends in Urology & Men’s Health, pp. 28-30.
- ^ a b Goddard, J. C. (September/October 2017) "Vis Unita Fortior united strength is stronger". Trends in Urology and Men's Health, pp. 31-33.
- ^ "Sir Peter Freyer Memorial Lecture & Surgical Symposium". Sir Peter Freyer Surgical Symposium. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
- ISBN 9780141889726.
- ^ "Freyer Unit | Galway Clinic". www.galwayclinic.com. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
Further reading
- "From Sellerna to Harley St". Dr C P MacLoughlin of Clifden in the Journal of the Clifden and Connemara Heritage Group Vol. I No. 1 (1993)
- "Prostatic Surgery". T. J. D. Lane. Postgraduate Medical Journal. 1 August 1949
External links
- Certificates mainly recording Peter Freyer's academic career at the Queen's University in Ireland.. 1869–1919, NUI Galway Archives
- Sir Peter Freyer Surgical Symposium. Department of Surgery, NUI Galway.