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. It was first created by Owen Harding Wangensteen (1898–1981), the Chief of Surgery at the University of Minnesota. 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.
In popular culture
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
- "Wangensteen suction". Stedman's Medical Spellchecker. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. 2006. Retrieved 2009-03-09.
- 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.
- Paul C. Matson, M.D. (2003-09-17). "2003 Inaugural Address". 150th Minnesota Medical Association Annual Meeting. Minnesota Medical Association.
- The Gale Group, Inc. (2001). "The 1980s: Medicine and Health: Deaths". American Decades. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2009-03-09.
- "Good-Bye Radar: Part 1". M*A*S*H. Season 8. Episode 4. October 1979. CBS.