Raoul Bensaude was a French physician born in the Azores

Azores

The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...

. He became a famous gastroenterologist that pioneered proctology

Proctology

Colorectal surgery is a field in medicine, dealing with disorders of the rectum, anus, and colon. The field is also known as proctology, but the term is outdated in the more traditional areas of medicine...

 in France. He is also remembered for his detailed description with Pierre-Emile Launois

Pierre-Emile Launois

Pierre-Emile Launois was a French physician born in Moiremont, a commune in the department of Marne.He studied in Reims and Paris, where in 1885 he earned his medical doctorate. He became médecin des hôpitaux in 1895, and professeur agrégé of histology in 1898...

 (1856-1914) of the "Launois-Bensaude Syndrome" or multiple symmetrical lipomatosis

Lipomatosis

Lipomatosis is a hereditary condition where multiple lipomas are present on the body. Many discrete, encapsulated lipomas form on the trunk and extremities, with relatively few on the head and shoulders...

.

Raoul Bensaude went at school in Germany near Hannover and moved to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 to study medicine. His doctoral thesis under supervision of Emile Charles Achard

Emile Achard

Emile Achard, full name Emile Charles Achard was a French internist born in Paris. In 1893 he became médecin des hôpitaux, and later a professor of general pathology and therapeutics. In 1910 he was appointed professor of internal medicine at the University of Paris...

 (1860-1944) was noticed as the first characterization of the bacillus

Bacillus

Bacillus is a genus of Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria and a member of the division Firmicutes. Bacillus species can be obligate aerobes or facultative anaerobes, and test positive for the enzyme catalase. Ubiquitous in nature, Bacillus includes both free-living and pathogenic species...

, Salmonella paratyphi B causing paratyphoid fever

Paratyphoid fever

Paratyphoid fevers or Enteric fevers are a group of enteric illnesses caused by serotypic strains of the Salmonella genus of bacteria, S. Paratyphi....

. Bensaude then moved to Hôpital Saint-Antoine in Paris, where he was patronized by Georges Hayem

Georges Hayem

Georges Hayem was a physician and hematologist who was a native of Paris. He studied medicine in Paris, and later became a professor of therapy and materia medica. From 1878 until 1911 he practiced medicine at the Hôpital Tenon, and afterwards was associated with the Hôpital St...

 (1841-1933) and finished his career as Chef de Service.

Bensaude made multiple contributions in the field of gastroenterology

Gastroenterology

Gastroenterology is the branch of medicine whereby the digestive system and its disorders are studied. The name is a combination of three Ancient Greek words gaster , enteron , and logos...

. Thanks to Lucius Littauer

Lucius N. Littauer

-External links:...

, an American philanthropist, he founded at Hôpital Saint-Antoine the first service of proctology

Proctology

Colorectal surgery is a field in medicine, dealing with disorders of the rectum, anus, and colon. The field is also known as proctology, but the term is outdated in the more traditional areas of medicine...

 in France. He is credited for popularizing sclerotherapy

Sclerotherapy

Sclerotherapy is a procedure used to treat blood vessels or blood vessel malformations and also those of the lymphatic system. A medicine is injected into the vessels, which makes them shrink. It is used for children and young adults with vascular or lymphatic malformations...

 for treatment of hemorrhoid

Hemorrhoid

Hemorrhoids or haemorrhoids , are vascular structures in the anal canal which help with stool control. They become pathological or piles when swollen or inflamed. In their physiological state they act as a cushion composed of arterio-venous channels and connective tissue that aid the passage of...

s, and developed a model of rectoscope named after him. His treatise Rectoscopie: Sigmoïdoscopie. Traité d'endoscopie recto-colique had a world-wide impact.

Works

• Raoul Bensaude, Le phénomène de l’agglutination des microbes et ses applications à la pathologie (Le sérodiagnostic) Thèse, Paris 1897.
• Georges Hayem Leçons sur les maladies du sang recueillies par É. Parmentier et R. Bensaude. Masson, Paris 1900.
• Raoul Bensaude, Pierre Hillemand, André Lambling, et Roger Cattan. Rectoscopie: Sigmoïdoscopie. Traité d'endoscopie recto-colique. Masson et Cie, Paris 1919, 1926. "Ouvrage couronné par l'Académie de médecine."
• Raoul Bensaude Traité des maladies de l’intestin vol.I, Masson Paris, 1931.
• Raoul Bensaude Traité des maladies de l’intestin vol.II, Masson Paris, 1932.
• Raoul Bensaude Traité des maladies de l’intestin vol.III, Masson Paris, 1935.
• Raoul Bensaude Maladies de l'intestin vol. IV. Les hémorroïdes et leur traitement, fissure anale, prurit anal, etc. Masson Paris, 1939.