Abstract
Although a precise birth date has not been verified, most authors accept Paré was born in 1510 on the outskirts of Laval in Western France to a father who practised as a barber. 1,2 Following apprenticeship to a barber-surgeon locally he moved to Paris in 1532 or 1533 to work prodigiously in the Hôtel Dieu for three years. Entering army service in 1537, he continued to practise military surgery intermittently until 1569. Meanwhile he was admitted to the community of barber-surgeons, established a practice in Paris and, due to his surgical talent, became surgeon to four successive French kings despite a Protestant background and lack of Latin learning. As an assiduous anatomist and surgical innovator, he wrote many books (in French to the consternation of physicians) that reflected practical wisdom and freethinking genius. Often rebuked and criticized by physicians and surgeons, Paré demonstrated innovative advances based on wide experience to demolish their ancient concepts. His works were widely published in translation, including English (Figure 1). 3,4 He died suitably revered in 1590.
Engraving of Ambroise Paré aet 45 (from Pare's Anatomie Universelle. Paris: le Royer, 1561)
Paré's three most important surgical achievements are his introduction of bland wound dressings to replace harmful hot or boiling oil preparations; his emphasis of ligature control for arterial haemorrhage in place of heated cauteries; and his use of podalic version for obstructed labour by manual extraction by pulling on the feet. Beyond these contributions, he stressed the importance of questioning established methods of management and of reporting detailed illustrative case histories, often backed up by postmortem evidence.