The Legend of George J. Willauer, M.D. (1896–1977)

In 1940, Dr. William T. Lemmon demonstrated that continuous spinal anesthesia could be used to safely manage surgical patients.1 In a seminal study that covered 300 thoracoplasty cases between February 1941 and December 1944, Dr. Willauer examined the use of this novel technique during thoracoplasty for the first time in history.2 The results were exceptional. The same was demonstrated in a follow-up study that he led covering four additional years and 574 additional cases.3 Dr. Willauer challenged the status quo and through his research identified continuous spinal anesthesia as a superior technique to the prevailing use of inhalation anesthesia at the time. [...]two of the most widely used instruments in the operating room are in large part because of this man.