On the Fracture of the Carpal Extremity of the Radius

Abstract

Abraham Colles (1773-1843) held the Chair of Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin for over 30 years and was considered one of the leading surgeons of his time. He and his contemporaries were the founders of modern surgery. Colles wrote extensively on venereal disease. He was famous for having ligated the subclavian vein and innominate vein, and he was probably the first to accomplish the operation successfully. The eponym Colles' fracture comes from the classical clinical description in this article.