Surgery

Thread Catgut (3)
Catgut Fandre 2

Ampoules, around 1920 

 

 

As the first specific surgical material came in 1860 the "Carbol catgut" after Joseph Lister (1827-1912) on the market, by treatment with sublimate sterilized intestine.


Around 1870 Catgut emerged as a suture in large quantities on the market - first used Aloys Constantin Conrad Gustav von Veit (1824-1903) this material in Bonn in 1872 in Obstetrics, after 1873 Alfred Hegar (1830-1914). The material was unsatisfactory - suture dehiscences and wound infections were common complications.

 

It was not until 1908 that the production of really sterile Cat succeeded: the small manufactory of Carl Brau took a significant turn in 1908 towards industrial operation when Brauun gave the surgeon Dr. Ing. Franz KUHN (1866-1929) met. He was looking for a company that was ready to produce the catgut he had developed. Braun began production of "Sterile Catgut Kuhn," a resorbable suture based on the mutton intestine. This soon proved to be an entrepreneurial stroke of luck and brought a tremendous boost to the small business. Production started on an industrial scale in 1909 when BRAUN expanded its chemical-pharmaceutical manufacturing facility and processed hammock arms into sterile sutures.

 

In 1928, Johnson & Johnson developed a special catgut thread under the name ETHICON, which was registered as a patent in 1930, but only gained market share after 1942, when the thread was more in line with US FDA regulations than similar products from the competition. The production of the ethicon thread was so successful that it was soon outsourced to a subsidiary, the "ETHICON Suture Laboratories".
In 1999, the prion disease BSE made headlines. The industry was unable to exclude the contamination of sheep's and cattle 's guts. Lower Saxony then banned the catgut, ETHICON stopped its production finally.

 

Exhibit

On French flea markets you can occasionally find this product from Lorraine:

"Laboratoires A. FANDRE
Docteur en Pharmacie
Corde fabriquée avec boyaux frais au
Laboratoire-Boyauderie
4 , r. du Faubourg Stanislas, Nancy"
Catgut stérile Assoupli
Classification ancienne N°0
Classification décimale N°4