Pages of the history of the journal «Vrach». Mistakes in the treatment of N.A. Nekrasov and the opinion of this popular russian publication about the surgeon who operated on the poet

The medical history of N.A. Nekrasov still causes fierce disputes among medical historians, clinicians of various specialties (therapists, surgeons, proctologists, urologists), literary critics and literature lovers. Studying the issues of the journal «Vrach» of a century and a half of antiquity, we came across the reaction of this extremely popular publication in Russia to the death of N.A. Nekrasov with merciless criticism of the surgeon who operated on the poet.

Objective. Retrospectively study the treatment of the poet N.A. Nekrasov and determine what mistakes were made by doctors.

Materials and methods. For 45 years, the funds of N.A. Nekrasov have been studied in the archives of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Yaroslavl, Karabikha; his correspondence with the selection of materials concerning his illness.

Results. N.A. Nekrasov from December 1874 to December 27, 1877 had rectal cancer with the spread of the tumor to the sacrum and bladder. The disease was complicated by colonic obstruction, in connection with which, by the decision of the family, Professor Theodor Billroth arrived from Vienna, who on April 12, 1877 performed a colostomy operation. The analysis revealed 13 medical mistakes committed in the treatment of Nekrasov, which did not allow timely diagnosis and prolong the life of the poet for a long time, who died of sepsis and uremia, which complicated the course of cancer. The negative evaluation in the late nineteenth-century publications of the Journal «Vrach» that T. Bilroth received is discussed.

Conclusion. Serious medical mistakes were made in the treatment of N.A. Nekrasov, which brought the fatal outcome closer, which caused fair criticism by the journal «Vrach» of the surgeon, who operated on the poet.