Wangensteen suction

A Wangensteen suction apparatus is a modified siphon that maintains constant negative pressure. Used on a duodenal tube, it relieves gastric and intestinal distention caused by the retention of fluid.[1] It was first created by Owen Harding Wangensteen (1898–1981), the Chief of Surgery at the University of Minnesota.[2][3] His novel approach to the most important cause of death during gastrointestinal surgery has since been credited with saving more than one hundred thousand lives.[4]

The Wangensteen apparatus is featured in the first half of "Good Bye, Radar," a two-part episode from the eighth season of the television series M*A*S*H. When the camp's electric generator breaks down, the doctors assemble a device from kitchen and surgical supplies to drain fluid from a patient's abdomen.

References
  1. "Wangensteen suction". Stedman's Medical Spellchecker. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. 2006. Retrieved 2009-03-09.
  2. England, Royal College of Surgeons of. "Wangensteen, Owen Harding - Biographical entry - Plarr's Lives of the Fellows Online". livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  3. Paul C. Matson, M.D. (2003-09-17). "2003 Inaugural Address". 150th Minnesota Medical Association Annual Meeting. Minnesota Medical Association.
  4. The Gale Group, Inc. (2001). "The 1980s: Medicine and Health: Deaths". American Decades. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2009-03-09.
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