Ernst Georg Ferdinand Küster (November 2, 1839 - April 19, 1930) was a German surgeon

Surgeon

In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...

 born in Wollin

Wolin (town)

Wolin is a town situated on the southern tip of the Wolin island off the Baltic coast of Poland. The island lies at the edge of the strait of Dziwna in Kamień Pomorski County in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship....

.

He studied medicine in Bonn

Bonn

Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....

, Würzburg

Würzburg

Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....

 and Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, and following graduation became an assistant to Robert Ferdinand Wilms

Robert Ferdinand Wilms

Robert Friedrich Wilms was a German surgeon who was a native of Arnswalde. He studied medicine in Berlin, and in 1848 became an assistant at the Bethanien Hospital in Berlin...

 (1824-1880) at the Bethanien Hospital in Berlin. In 1875 he became habilitated for surgery

Surgery

Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...

, and in 1879 was an associate professor and chief physician at Berlin's Augusta Hospital. In 1890 he was appointed professor of surgery at the University of Marburg, and in 1907 returned to Berlin as a surgeon.

In 1872 Küster was a founding member of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chirurgie (German Society of Surgery), and in 1903 was its chairman. He is credited for developing the foundation of modern radical mastoidectomy for treatment of chronic ear disease. Küster's radical mastoid operation is described as an extension of the simple mastoidectomy introduced by otologist Hermann Schwartze

Hermann Schwartze

Hermann Hugo Rudolf Schwartze was a German aurist, born at Neuhof in Pomerania and educated in Berlin and Würzburg...

 (1837-1910).

Selected publications

• Die Chirurgie der Nieren, der Harnleiter und der Nebennieren. (Surgery of the Kidney
  Kidney
  The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...
  
  , Ureter
  Ureter
  In human anatomy, the ureters are muscular tubes that propel urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder. In the adult, the ureters are usually long and ~3-4 mm in diameter....
  
   and the Adrenal Glands
  Adrenal gland
  In mammals, the adrenal glands are endocrine glands that sit atop the kidneys; in humans, the right suprarenal gland is triangular shaped, while the left suprarenal gland is semilunar shaped...
  
  ); Enke, Stuttgart 1896-1902, 2.Bd.
• Geschichte der neueren deutschen Chirurgie. (History of Modern German Surgery); Enke, Stuttgart 1915.