Billroth

Billroth is a surname associated with Theodor Billroth (1829–1894), an Austrian surgeon who is widely regarded as one of the founders of modern abdominal surgery. He practiced in Vienna and helped establish surgical techniques for gastric disease, advancing the development of resections and anastomoses that shaped late 19th‑century gastro‑intestinal surgery.

Billroth I and Billroth II are two surgical reconstructions named after him. Billroth I, or gastroduodenostomy, connects the remaining part of the stomach to the duodenum after distal gastrectomy; Billroth II, or gastrojejunostomy, connects the stomach to the jejunum, typically after distal gastrectomy with a more extensive rearrangement. In 1881, Billroth performed the first successful gastrectomy, helping popularize these procedures.

His work influenced the field by expanding the range of operable gastric diseases and by training generations of surgeons. The Billroth procedures were widely used for many decades but were gradually supplemented or replaced by newer gastric‑resection techniques and reconstruction methods as surgical knowledge evolved.

Today, Billroth is remembered in medical history for his contributions to gastric surgery and for the eponymous procedures that bear his name.