"Keeping up with the Joneses"--the story of Sir Robert Jones and Sir Reginald Watson-Jones.

Abstract

Hugh Owen was born in 1834 in Liverpool, the son of a professional bonesetter. He was considered by many to be the father of British orthopaedics. Thomas' father sent Hugh Owen and his brothers to medical school, and in 1857 he qualified as a doctor in Edinburgh. He was considered a dynamic, eccentric and exceptionally hard-working gentleman. In addition, he was extremely free-thinking and novel in his approach to fracture management. Because of his controversial nature and unique ideas, he was not accepted by the medical establishment and never received a hospital appointment. Thomas performed operations in his own small hospital and fabricated all of his braces and appliances. He was loved by the people for caring for the underprivileged of Liverpool. Each Sunday he provided free medical care for the poor. In 1875, he published a book entitled Diseases of the Hip, Knee and Ankle Joints. The book described the use of braces in fracture management, including a splint that he used for treatment of femur fractures. Interestingly, this device persists today as the Splint used by Emergency Medical Personnel to temporarily stabilize femur fractures. In addition, he described using an ischial-bearing splint to treat tuberculosis of the knee (Figure 1). Both of these devices were innovative approaches to common problems. He also described a way in which hip flexion contractures could be assessed on physical exam, now known as the Thomas test (Figures 2 a-b). Figure 1 Thomas' ischial-bearing splint Figure 2 Demonstration of the Thomas test