Plaster of Paris 1851 – A Major Step in Bone Healing

In the bestselling novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Madam Pomfrey, the magical healer in charge of the Hogwarts hospital wing, uses a bone-healing spell that joins and repairs broken bones in a student's wrist almost instantly. If only healing bone fractures were that easy for ordinary people!

For thousands of years, healers have tried to stabilise limbs to allow broken bones to unite. For example: 

• The ancient Egyptians used wooden splints wrapped in linen,
• The ancient Indians used bamboo splints,
• Ancient Arab doctors used lime from seashells and egg whites to harden bandages. 

In medieval Europe, fractures were sometimes treated by people known as bonesetters. Usually veterinarians or blacksmiths without formal medical training, bonesetters repositioned broken bones with their hands.

A major advance in bone healing occurred in 1851, when Dutch army surgeon Antonius Mathijsen used plaster of Paris to stabilise broken bones. Its chemical name is calcium sulphate hemihydrate, and it is formed by heating gypsum (calcium sulphate dihydrate), a soft mineral. The name plaster of Paris comes from the large gypsum deposits near the French capital. Adding water to the resulting powder causes an exothermic (heat-releasing) reaction that produces a very strong material. 

Mathijsen wetted bandages and wrapped them around the affected area, creating an appropriately shaped “splint” that held the bones in place as they healed. Russian physician Nikolay Pirogov, aware of Mathijsen's work, became the first person to use plaster of Paris for treatment during the Crimean War (1853-1856). Pirogov dipped thick cloths into plaster of Paris and wetted them immediately before application.

Plaster of Paris remained widely used until the 1980s, when lightweight fibreglass displaced it in developed countries. 

Bone fracture healing is achieved through cooperation between cells known as fibroblasts, which form collagen; chondroblasts, which form cartilage; and osteoblasts, which form bone.

Description of the article image: Plaster casts were applied to a soldier of the 163rd Infantry injured by a Japanese landmine explosion during World War II. The orthopaedic table was made using Japanese pipes, ammunition rods and a piece of a vehicle windscreen.

Historical figures mentioned in the article: Antonius Mathijsen (1805–1878), Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov (1810–1881)

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