George S. Phalen was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 hand surgeon remembered for his work on carpal tunnel syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is an entrapment idiopathic median neuropathy, causing paresthesia, pain, and other symptoms in the distribution of the median nerve due to its compression at the wrist in the carpal tunnel. The pathophysiology is not completely understood but can be considered compression...

 including his description of Phalen's maneuver

Phalen's maneuver

Phalen's maneuver is a diagnostic test for carpal tunnel syndrome discovered by an American orthopedist named George S. Phalen.-Process:The patient is asked to hold their wrist in complete and forced flexion for 30–60 seconds. The lumbricals attach in part to the flexor digitorum profundus tendons...

.

Biography

George Phalen graduated from Bradley University

Bradley University

Bradley University, founded in 1897, is a private, co-educational university located in Peoria, Illinois. It is a small institution with an enrollment of approximately 6,100 undergraduate and postgraduate students and a full-time faculty of approximately 350....

 in 1932, and gained his M.D.

Doctor of Medicine

Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...

 from Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 in 1937. He undertook his residency

Residency (medicine)

Residency is a stage of graduate medical training. A resident physician or resident is a person who has received a medical degree , Podiatric degree , Dental Degree and who practices...

 at the Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit medical practice and medical research group specializing in treating difficult patients . Patients are referred to Mayo Clinic from across the U.S. and the world, and it is known for innovative and effective treatments. Mayo Clinic is known for being at the top of...

 before joining the Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 in 1942. He was a Lieutenant Colonel

Lieutenant colonel

Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...

 and chief of orthopedic surgery

Orthopedic surgery

Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system...

 at the O'Reilly General Hospital in Springfield, Missouri

Springfield, Missouri

Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. According to the 2010 census data, the population was 159,498, an increase of 5.2% since the 2000 census. The Springfield Metropolitan Area, population 436,712, includes the counties of...

, an Army hand center, and then chief of hand surgery at the William Beaumont Army Medical Center

William Beaumont Army Medical Center

William Beaumont Army Medical Center is a Department of Defense medical facility located in El Paso, Texas. It provides comprehensive care to all beneficiaries including active duty military, their family members, and retirees...

. After the Second World War he worked at the Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland Clinic

The Cleveland Clinic is a multispecialty academic medical center located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The Cleveland Clinic is currently regarded as one of the top 4 hospitals in the United States as rated by U.S. News & World Report...

, becoming chief of hand surgery. He helped to found the American Society for Surgery of the Hand

American Society for Surgery of the Hand

The American Society for Surgery of the Hand was founded in 1946 to facilitate the exchange of information related to problems of the hand. It is the oldest and largest medical specialty society in the United States devoted to the care of the hand....

 in 1946, and was president during the 1960s. He was also president of the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons in 1965. He moved to the Dallas Medical and Surgical Clinic in 1970, remaining there until his retirement in 1980.

He described the carpal tunnel syndrome in 1950, and although it had been described previously by James Paget

James Paget

Sir James Paget, 1st Baronet was a British surgeon and pathologist who is best remembered for Paget's disease and who is considered, together with Rudolf Virchow, as one of the founders of scientific medical pathology. His famous works included Lectures on Tumours and Lectures on Surgical Pathology...

 in 1854 and James Jackson Putman in 1880, amongst others, Phalen improved the understanding of the aetiology of the condition with his experience of several hundred patients during the 1950s and 1960s.