Max Saenger

Max Saenger

Max Saenger (German: Max Sänger) (March 14, 1853; January 12, 1903) was a German obstetrician and gynecologist who was a native of Bayreuth.

He studied medicine at the University of Leipzig, and continued his graduate studies in OB/GYN and pathology under Carl Siegmund Franz Credé (1819–1892). He later became a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Leipzig, and in 1890 was appointed professor of OB/GYN at the German University in Prague. In 1894 he co-founded the journal Monatsschrift für Geburtshilfe und Gynäkologie.

In 1882 he introduced the practice of sutural closure of the uterus following Caesarean section operations. The previous autumn, Ferdinand Adolf Kehrer performed the first lower segment Caesarean section in Europe. Sänger's contribution helped reduce infection and preserved the mother's uterus. Afterwards, Kehrer and other surgeons adopted Sänger's methodology.

Sänger used silver and silk thread as suture material. Silver sutures had been introduced into medicine by the American gynecologist James Marion Sims.

Terminology

• Saenger's suture: the closure of the uterine wound in caesarean section by eight or ten deep silver wire sutures, and the use of twenty or more superficial stitches taken through the peritoneum.
• Saenger's operation: Cesarean section followed by careful closure of the uterine wound by three tiers of sutures. Also described as a caesarean section in which the uterus is taken out through a long abdominal cut before the fetus is removed.

References

• The Internet Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics Max Sänger (1853–1903): An Historical Note on Uterine Sutures in Caesarean Section
• The Illustrated American Medical Dictionary (1938)
• NCBI National Library of Medicine; Max Sänger

Persondata
Name	Saenger, Max
Alternative names
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Date of birth	1853
Place of birth
Date of death	1903
Place of death