Wittmoser's technique of thoracoscopic sympathectomy and vagotomy

His extensive developmental and clinical work made Raimund Wittmoser a major trailblazer in endoscopic surgery from the 1950s on. His single-puncture technique for operative thoracoscopy permitted surgical interventions of peerless quality on the sympathetic and vagal nerves. His basic surgical principle was to achieve the greatest possible selectivity by a segmental approach to the sympathetic rami communicantes or the individual branches of the vagus nerve. Besides his extraordinary surgical skills, his particular achievement was the development of new instrumental and ancillary technologies for endoscopic surgery. In addition to the development of new endoscopes and imaging systems, his pressure-regulated CO2 insufflation system and low frequency cautery technique had major impact on the further development of endoscopic surgery. Finally, Wittmoser's surgical interventions in the autonomic nervous system were of outstanding quality and set standards still observed by thoracoscopic surgeons today.