Der Ätherinhalator nach Louis Ombrédanne

Abstract

The adoption of the Ombrédanne inhaler in Germany is surveyed mainly using the circumstances surrounding its acceptance and distribution. In addition, the figure of Louis Ombrédanne is brought into recollection and expanded. For this purpose historical literature was drawn upon, correspondence with companies was initiated, interviews were carried out and important localities in his life as well as the Académie de Chirurgie itself (Paris) were visited. The "Ombrédanne" reached Germany indirectly via Lithuania and Argentina 19 years after its introduction in France. In the time following, however, it was highly acclaimed in publications and extensively used in civilian and military areas up until World War II. With regard to its adoption and diffusion the question of possible influencing factors arises pertaining to the impediment or furtherance of acceptance outside France. Louis Ombrédanne, the inventor of the apparatus, was a great surgeon, a fascinating personality even today but not an active trailblazer of modern anaesthesiology.