Viktor Schmieden 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 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...

. In 1897 he earned his medical doctorate from the University of Bonn

University of Bonn

The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...

, and subsequently worked in hospitals in Göttingen

Göttingen

Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...

, Berlin and 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....

. Later he was a professor at the Universities of Halle (from 1913) and Frankfurt (from 1919).

Schmieden is remembered for his work with Franz Volhard

Franz Volhard

Franz Volhard was a German internist who was born in Munich.He studied medicine in Bonn, Strasbourg, and Halle. His instructors included Eduard Friedrich Wilhelm Pflüger , Bernhard Naunyn , Oswald Schmiedeberg , and Joseph von Mering , and from 1897 to 1905 he worked at the university medical...

 (1872-1950) in the establishment of pericardectomy for treatment of constrictive pericarditis

Constrictive pericarditis

In many cases, constrictive pericarditis is a late sequela, in other words a condition that is the consequence of a previous disease, of an inflammatory condition of the pericardium...

. Historically this procedure was referred to as "Schmieden's operation". He also made important contributions towards the treatment of hydrocephalus

Hydrocephalus

Hydrocephalus , also known as "water in the brain," is a medical condition in which there is an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles, or cavities, of the brain. This may cause increased intracranial pressure inside the skull and progressive enlargement of the head,...

, and in 1926 identified that polyps

Polyp (medicine)

A polyp is an abnormal growth of tissue projecting from a mucous membrane. If it is attached to the surface by a narrow elongated stalk, it is said to be pedunculated. If no stalk is present, it is said to be sessile. Polyps are commonly found in the colon, stomach, nose, sinus, urinary bladder...

 of the colon

Colon (anatomy)

The colon is the last part of the digestive system in most vertebrates; it extracts water and salt from solid wastes before they are eliminated from the body, and is the site in which flora-aided fermentation of unabsorbed material occurs. Unlike the small intestine, the colon does not play a...

 were a precursor of colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer, commonly known as bowel cancer, is a cancer caused by uncontrolled cell growth , in the colon, rectum, or vermiform appendix. Colorectal cancer is clinically distinct from anal cancer, which affects the anus....

.

Written works

Schmieden was the author of numerous works. In 1917 he was co-publisher of Lehrbuch der Kriegschirurgie (second edition titled- Die deutsche Chirurgie im Weltkriege 1914-1918), and with Ernst Ferdinand Sauerbruch (1875-1951), he published the sixth edition of Chirurgische Operationslehre (Surgical Operation Teachings) by August Karl Gustav Bier

August Bier

August Karl Gustav Bier was a German surgeon and a pioneer of spinal anaesthesia. After professorships in Greifswald and Bonn, Bier became a professor at the Charité in Berlin.-Spinal anesthesia:...

, Heinrich Braun

Heinrich Braun

Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Braun was a German surgeon remembered for his work in the field of anaesthesiology. He was a native of Rawitsch, Province of Posen ....

 and Hermann Kümmell

Hermann Kümmell

Hermann Kümmell was a German surgeon.In 1875 he received his medical doctorate at Berlin, later working as an assistant physician to Max Schede at the municipal hospital in Friedrichshain...

. Other noted worked by Schmieden include:

• Der chirurgische Operationskursus, (1910); 12th edition with A. W. Fischer in 1930; translated into English.
• Ueber Erkennung und Behandlung der Umklammerung des Herzens durch schwielige Parikarditis, with Franz Volhard
  Franz Volhard
  Franz Volhard was a German internist who was born in Munich.He studied medicine in Bonn, Strasbourg, and Halle. His instructors included Eduard Friedrich Wilhelm Pflüger , Bernhard Naunyn , Oswald Schmiedeberg , and Joseph von Mering , and from 1897 to 1905 he worked at the university medical...
  
  (1872-1950). Klinische Wochenschrift, Berlin, 1923, 2: 5-9. First complete pericardectomy for constrictive pericarditis.
• Die theoretischen Grundlagen der Hyperaemiebehandlung; In: Handbuch der normalen und pathologischen Physiologie, volume 7, 2; Berlin, (1927)
• Die Geschichte der Laparotomie; Berlin, (1936)