[Arthur Läwen--a pioneer of modern anesthetic techniques]

The development of modern local anaesthetic techniques is connected with the name of Arthur Läwen. At the turn of this century, he started his surgical training with Heinrich Braun, who had performed a lot of research with various local anaesthetic methods and who was renowned world-wide as an authority for his contributions. It is not surprising that a main topic of Läwen's research was the development of new local anaesthetic regimes. In close collaboration with the Institute of Pharmacology at the University of Leipzig, he examined new available local anaesthetic drugs and their practicability for daily use. Due to an own, new pharmacological preparation of a bicarbonated novocaine solution, paravertebral, sacral and epidural conduction blocks became a reality in clinical practice. Thus several, still valid methods in the treatment of acute or chronic pain became manageable. The further development of new techniques for the differential diagnosis of various illnesses must also be mentioned. A remarkable step towards a modern anaesthesia concept was the administration of curare for muscle relaxation in operative surgery. Another evidence of his foresight are his contributions in the development of an electrically driven apparatus to overcome respiratory failure "Läwen was in many ways a man before his time:" This appraisal by a surgeon colleague is true even today for several of his anaesthesia-related contributions, which are still part of the armamentarium of modern anaesthetic methods.