The Ecraseur - Another Ouch Instrument

[NH Civil War Gal]

The Ecraseur: a 19th- Century Invention

Weird History Facts
The Ecraseur, also known as the "French twist," is a medical instrument that has played a significant role in surgical procedures and veterinary medicine. This unique device was originally developed as a tool for animal castration, but it soon found applications in human surgeries.

There are actually a number of different types of Ecraseur's that were around - some for the tongue, some for operating on ovarian growths in mares, some for castrating men!

This is from The National Museum of Civil War Medicine

Veterinary care was important to the infrastructure of Civil War armies. In our collection is this ecraseur, used to castrate horses.

Image credit:
Chassaignac's Ecraseur 2008.003.001kk


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8873882/pdf/atlantamedsurgj155874-0097.pdf. This article shows it can be used for hemorrhoids or pendulous growths. This is from 1871.

 

[John Hartwell]

écraseur, literally "crusher."

A surgical instrument containing a chain or wire loop that, when tightened, encircles and gradually severs a projecting mass of tissue.

"Ouch," indeed.

 

[Bentonville]

I think something like that contraption, with the addition of heat via elements for cautery, we're used to take my aunt's tonsils in the late 20s. Not this 20s but the last one.

 

[JOHN42768]

Looks like something used in a torture chamber.

 

[Ole Miss]

Yikes! That is a vicious looking tool which causes one---especially male---to flinch and hunch over!
Regards
David

 

[lupaglupa]

I wonder why they linked it to the French?

 

[John Hartwell]

I wonder why they linked it to the French?

Apparently a French invention --

"Édouard-Pierre-Marie Chassaignac (24 December 1804 – 26 August 1879) was a French physician. He was born in Nantes and in 1835 became prosector and professor at the university and physician at the central bureau of the hospitals of Paris. He originated the surgical operation known as écrasement, by means of which tumors, piles, polypi, and other growths may be removed without the effusion of blood. The general introduction of drainage in surgery is also due to his initiative. He introduced the use of drainage tubes into surgery." --Wikipedia​

 

[R. Porter]

And I always thought a French twist was a hair style.