[The beginnings of reconstructive vascular surgery in Austria]

Hans von Haberer (1875-1958) gained wide experience in the reconstructive surgery of traumatic aneurysms during the 1st world war at the Surgical Department of the University of Innsbruck. In the period 1914-1918 he operated on altogether 201 vascular aneurysms, mainly using a direct circular vascular suture. In 1914 von Haberer described the first reconstruction of a carotid aneurysm. On the basis of the detailed case notes and operation reports written by Hans von Haberer between 1904 und 1949 on approximately 16000 cases and from the contemporary literature, we describe his experiences in vascular surgery at the Surgical Department of the University of Innsbruck between 1914 and 1918.