This page lists items in the database related to German physician and internist Gotthard Bülau (born 27 February 1835 in Hamburg, Germany; died 20 October 1900 in Hamburg, Germany):
After studying medicine in Heidelberg, Göttingen and Hamburg, Bülau worked for over twenty years at the Allgemeines Krankenhaus St. Georg (St. Georg's Hospital) as an internist with a particular focus on the treatment of thoracic disease. Bülau is best known for having pioneered closed water-seal drainage to treat pleural empyema, a life-threatening infection which causes the space around the lungs to be filled with thick infected fluid and air. Bülau’s invention enabled safer removal of fluid and established the basis for modern thoracic drainage. The Bülau drainage, as it later came to be known, was extremely important during the 1918-19 Influenza Epidemic where infections of the pleural cavity could be treated with significantly fewer complications. Throughout his career as a researcher and medical practitioner, he contributed to St. Georg’s reputation as a centre of clinical innovation and medical literature still cites the Bülau drainage as an important milestone in the development of thoracic surgery. The Bulaustraße, a street opposite the hospital, was dedicated to his achievements.