Orvar Swenson | |
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| Born | 7 February 1909 Helsingborg, Sweden |
| Died | 13 April 2012 (aged 103) |
| Education | |
| Known for | Swenson pull-through procedure for Hirschsprung's disease |
| Medical career | |
| Institutions | |
Orvar Swenson (7 February 1909 – 13 April 2012) was a Swedish-born American pediatric surgeon. He discovered the cause of Hirschsprung's disease and in 1948, with Alexander Bill, performed the first pull-through operation in a child with megacolon, which then became a treatment for the disease.
Initially a resident in pathology, he soon became an assistant professor of pediatric surgery at Harvard and later moved to Boston's Floating Hospital for Children as surgeon-in-chief, where he was the first pediatric surgeon on the staff at the hospital and where he began his research in Hirschsprung's disease. Subsequently, he became surgeon-in-chief of Children's Memorial Hospital, where he remained until his retirement in 1973.
In 1973, Swenson was elected president of the American Pediatric Surgical Association. He authored Swenson's Pediatric Surgery, which ran into five editions and he was the recipient of a number of awards including the E. Mead Johnson Award, the William E. Ladd Medal and the Denis Browne Gold Medal.