William Osler Abbott: his double lumen tube

Miller as head of the GI Section, Abbott's Chief and the individual who actually constructed the original double lumen tube was logically lead author of their first paper describing a technique for intubation of the human intestine. Nonetheless, originally most people associated only Abbott's name with the tube since he arranged for its manufacture, perfected the technique by which it was used, described its use in the diagnosis and treatment of intestinal obstruction and personally carried out over 500 intubations. Three months after his death Shields Warren wrote "Not a day goes by here in the Hospital that a life is not saved by the Abbott tube" (16). Were it not for Abbott's correction of the Pilling company's first brochure the Miller Abbott tube might have been called the Abbott tube or at the very least the Abbott Miller Tube. Such a designation would not have been inappropriate when one also considers that Pete Abbott's use of the double lumen tube in studies of the gastrointestinal tract and the diagnosis and treatment of intestinal obstruction was undoubtedly a major factor in his untimely death.