Jean Civiale

Contested

Priority in transurethral lithotrity was disputed with Leroy d'Étiolles, who showed his lithoprione in 1822; the details of the dispute are not verified in the kit. The date of Civiale's first operation is also disputed (January 1824 or 23 January 1823).

What the film says

• In January 1824 crushed a stone through the urethra of a living patient, with no cut.

  Watch 33:47 in the film VII. Breaking the Stone

• Pooled thousands of lithotomy results against his own crushings and laid them before the Académie des sciences.

  Watch 34:27 in the film VII. Breaking the Stone

• Taught that the bladder could not bear instruments for long, so sittings were short and many.

  Watch 35:59 in the film VII. Breaking the Stone

On the timeline

• 1817: Civiale begins his experiments on crushing stones. probable timeline
• 1823-1827: Civiale operates on 43 patients and claims 42 successes. probable timeline
• January 1824 (23 January 1823 in one source): Civiale crushes a bladder stone through the urethra of a living patient, in Paris. disputed timeline
• 22 March 1824: Civiale reports to the Académie des sciences. probable timeline
• 1835: Poisson, Dulong, Larrey and Double report to the Académie des sciences on Civiale's statistics. timeline
• 1838: Jean Civiale praises the Norwich stone collection. probable timeline
• July 1858: Henry Thompson studies lithotrity with Civiale in Paris. timeline
• 1863: Thompson treats King Leopold I of the Belgians by lithotrity, finishing a treatment Civiale had started a year and a half before. timeline

Sources