Jules Guérin (1801-1885) et l'occlusion pneumatique des plaies

Vacuum-Assisted Closure System® (V.A.C.®), tested and introduced by MJ Moryk- was and LC Argenta in 1977, is a wide-spread procedure used for the treatment of defects and chronic wounds. In the middle of the 19th century, a French surgeon tried hopelessly to convince the medical authorities by that time of the interest of a similar method. In 1844, Jules Guérin (1801-1885) imagined a process and described the technique and the results in the prestigious Academy of Medicine and Sciences in Paris in 1866 and 1867. Jules Guérin proposed to treat chronic wounds and defects by what he called “pneumatic occlusion”. He proposed an apparatus with three parts: a process dressing applied to be wound a rubber occlusive membrane linked to an empty bell with a manometer. Jules Guérin presented his method with the indications, severed times at the Academy of Medicine. Results were detailed on complex wounds or amputations strumps. He explained with detail the action of the pneumatic occlusion but without taking on to account the role microorganisms and the absence of hygiene in infections. Unfortunately for him, his presentations were contemporary to the works of Pasteur and Lister. All surgeons privileged the use of antiseptics on wounds. The works of Jules Guérin were forgotten.