Harry J. Buncke

'Harry J. Buncke', MD (1922- May 18, 2008) was an American plastic surgeon who has been called "The Father of Microsurgery" for his contributions in the history and development of reconstructive microsurgical procedures. [http://www.zoominfo.com/directory/Buncke_CHICAGO-Harry_584127694.htm] He is a past president of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, the International Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery, and the American Association of Plastic Surgery. He has served as a clinical professor of surgery at both Stanford University and the University of California - San Francisco. He is the author of 15 movies and television tapes, four surgical textbooks, and more than 400 peer-reviewed publications. [http://www.zoominfo.com/directory/Buncke_CHICAGO-Harry_584127694.htm]

Education

Dr. Buncke attended Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and earned his medical degree from the New York Medical College in 1951. [http://www.zoominfo.com/directory/Buncke_CHICAGO-Harry_584127694.htm]

Career

Buncke's work began in a laboratory which he set up in his garage, using instruments and sutures he developed. In 1964, he reported a rabbit ear replantation to the Plastic Surgery Research Council Meeting in Kansas City, Kansas. [cite journal | author = Buncke H, Schulz W | title = Total ear reimplantation in the rabbit utilising microminiature vascular anastomoses. | journal = Br J Plast Surg | volume = 19 | issue = 1 | pages = 15–22 | year = 1966 | pmid = 5909469 | doi = 10.1016/S0007-1226(66)80003-6] This was the first report of successfully using blood vessels 1 millimeter in size, an achievement previously thought to be technically impossible.

In 1966, Buncke and colleagues reported the transplantation of a monkey great toe to hand using microsurgery, a second landmark that ushered in an era where replantation of amputated digits and extremities would become widely performed. [cite journal | author = Buncke H, Buncke C, Schulz W | title = Immediate Nicoladoni procedure in the Rhesus monkey, or hallux-to-hand transplantation, utilising microminiature vascular anastomoses. | journal = Br J Plast Surg | volume = 19 | issue = 4 | pages = 332–7 | year = 1966 | pmid = 4959061 | doi = 10.1016/S0007-1226(66)80075-9]

With Dr. Donald McLean, Buncke performed the first successful microvascular transplant using omentum to fill a large scalp defect In 1969. [cite journal | author = McLean D, Buncke H | title = Autotransplant of omentum to a large scalp defect, with microsurgical revascularization. | journal = Plast Reconstr Surg | volume = 49 | issue = 3 | pages = 268–74 | year = 1972 | pmid = 4551236 | doi = 10.1097/00006534-197203000-00005] [http://www.zoominfo.com/directory/Buncke_CHICAGO-Harry_584127694.htm] .

In 1970, Buncke founded the Buncke Clinic [http://www.buncke.org/history.html] at the Davies Medical Center in San Francisco, California. Surgeons at this clinic went on to accomplish many 'firsts', including a human toe-to-hand transplant [cite journal | author = Buncke H, McLean D, George P, Creech B, Chater N, Commons G | title = Thumb replacement: great toe transplantation by microvascular anastomosis. | journal = Br J Plast Surg | volume = 26 | issue = 3 | pages = 194–201 | year = 1973 | pmid = 4726099 | doi = 10.1016/0007-1226(73)90002-7] , scalp replantations [cite journal | author = Buncke H, Rose E, Brownstein M, Chater N | title = Successful replantation of two avulsed scalps by microvascular anastomoses. | journal = Plast Reconstr Surg | volume = 61 | issue = 5 | pages = 666–72 | year = 1978 | pmid = 643955 | doi = 10.1097/00006534-197805000-00002] , serratus-combined-latissimus microvascular transplants, four-digit replantion and, in 1997, the replantation of a severed tongue. [cite journal | author = Buntic R, Buncke H | title = Successful replantation of an amputated tongue. | journal = Plast Reconstr Surg | volume = 101 | issue = 6 | pages = 1604–7 | year = 1998 | pmid = 9583492 | doi = 10.1097/00006534-199805000-00026]

Footnotes

External links

* - website part written by this surgeon.
* [http://www.cpmc.org/advanced/microsurg/team/h_buncke.html CPMC.org] - "Dr. Harry Buncke's reputation is legendary as the 'father of microsurgery.'" California Pacific Medical Center
* [http://www.cpmc.org/professionals/research/currents/microsurg.html CPMC.org] - 'Pioneering Microsurgery: Offering Hope to Trauma Victims, Harry J. Buncke, MD Gregory M. Buncke, MD', California Pacific Medical Center
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/21/CMGJRIB24V1.DTL SFGate.com] - 'Saving limbs is a family business at the Buncke Clinic', Sam Whiting, "San Francisco Chronicle" (May 21, 2006