Lane , Sir , William Arbuthnot , 1856-1948 , surgeon

A consultant at Guy's Hospital, London, William Arbuthnot Lane was an innovative surgeon, the first to reintroduce Paré's practice of removing a portion of rib to treat empyema. He evolved the no-touch technique for surgical operations, which enabled him to treat fractures of the long bones by open operation with advantage and safety. In 1900 he introduced sterile caps, masks and gloves to operations at Guy's.

He caused controversy in using internal fixations for fractures which could be treated by conservative methods, and by his flap method of operating on cleft palate in infants, but most controversial of all were his views on 'intestinal stasis', and his advocacy of removal of the colon, which subject occupied six meetings of the Royal Society of Medicine in 1913. The text of the discussion is included in this collection (Ref B/11).

Lane was made a baronet after successfully operating on a member of the royal family in 1913. During the First World War, he was involved in the the organisation of Queen Mary's Hospital at Sidcup for the treatment of deformities of the face resulting from wounds. Due to the shortage of personnel at Guy's, he did not retire until 1920.

After his retirement, convinced that most disease is due to 'defective diet and bad habits', Lane founded the New Health Society to publicise his theories on internal stasis and his ideas about healthy diet, posture and excercise. In order to write and publish without contravening the rules of the General Medical Council, Lane had his name removed from the Medical Register in 1933. Lane died in 1948.