Hyphenated-history: the Kocher-Langenbeck surgical approach

The language spoken by orthopaedic surgeons is filled with eponyms. In orthopaedics, perhaps more than any other medical specialty, we speak cryptically to one another using code words and other secret language. Certain hyphenated eponyms are of particular interest because they pique one's curiosity as to how these people came to be partners in orthopaedic history. In this paper, we offer some bits of orthopaedic hyphenated-history, outlining the pertinent work of Theodor Kocher and Bernhard von Langenbeck, as well as associated background information. These two surgeons are linked through a common hyphenated eponym in orthopaedic surgery: the Kocher-Langenbeck surgical approach, a well-known posterior approach to the proximal femur and acetabulum.