Pringle Maneuver
Other Known Aliases – none
Definition – surgical technique whereby the hepatoduodenal ligament is clamped to limit blood flow through the hepatic artery and portal vein to the liver
Clinical Significance – the specific technique is to insert an index finger through the foramen of Winslow behind the porta hepatis and pinch between the finger and the thumb. You can also slide a non-crushing clamp along the finger, or wrap a vessel loop around to occlude. This technique controls the majority of the blood flow to the liver and is used to control bleeding during liver surgery or after liver trauma.
History – Named after James Hogarth Pringle (1863-1941), who was an Australian/Scottish surgeon and received his medical doctorate from the University of Edinburgh Medical School in 1885. He would have a prestigious career pioneering management and treatments for long bone fractures, head injuries, malignant melanomas, and reconstructive arterial surgery using vein grafts. He would describe his eponymous maneuver in 1908 in an article in the Annals of Surgery entitled “Notes on the Arrest of Hepatic Hemorrhage Due to Trauma”. It should also be noted that he was a fervent advocate for women in medicine, allowing them in his clinic well before any of his colleagues, and becoming Lecturer in Surgery and Demonstrator of Anatomy at Queen Margaret College, which was one of the first medical schools for women in Scotland.
References
- Firkin BG and Whitwirth JA. Dictionary of Medical Eponyms. 2nd ed. New York, NY; Parthenon Publishing Group. 1996.
- Bartolucci S, Forbis P. Stedman’s Medical Eponyms. 2nd ed. Baltimore, MD; LWW. 2005.
- Yee AJ, Pfiffner P. (2012). Medical Eponyms (Version 1.4.2) [Mobile Application Software]. Retrieved http://itunes.apple.com.
- Whonamedit – dictionary of medical eponyms. http://www.whonamedit.com
- Up To Date. www.uptodate.com
- Pringle JH. V. Notes on the Arrest of Hepatic Hemorrhage Due to Trauma. Ann Surg. 1908; 48(4):541-9. [PDF]
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