Francesco Rizzoli's osteoclast

This specimen of Rizzoli's osteoclast was manufactured by Bologna's firm Fratelli Lollini in the 19th century and can be seen in the Scuola Grande di San Marco and Ospedale Civile SS. Giovanni e Paolo’s historical collection in Venice.

Francesco Rizzoli "encountered a nine-year-old child in 1847 with a short leg caused by a fracture of the femur in infancy; Rizzoli fractured the normal femur, utilizing the recently introduced ether anesthesia and an osteoclast of his own design and allowed it to shorten, thus equalizing the leg lenghts"¹

• Photo by Ludovica Perri ti.supmaClA|irrep.acivodul#| (May 2014)

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Footnotes

1. Leonard F. Peltier, Orthopedics. A History and Iconography, Norman Publishing, San Francisco (CA) 1993, p. 184.