Owen Harding Wangensteen | |
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| Born | September 21, 1898 Lake Park, Minnesota, United States |
| Died | January 13, 1981 (aged 82) Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States |
| Education | University of Minnesota |
| Known for | Wangensteen suction |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Surgeon |
Owen Harding Wangensteen (September 21, 1898 – January 13, 1981) was an American surgeon who developed the Wangensteen tube, which used suction to treat small bowel obstruction, an innovation estimated to have saved a million lives by the time of his death. He founded the Surgical Forum at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and was renowned for his surgical teaching. Amongst his most notable students were Walton Lillehei, Christiaan Barnard, K. Alvin Merendino, Norman Shumway and Edward Eaton Mason. He made contributions to surgical practices in other areas, including appendicitis, peptic ulcers and particularly gastric cancer. In his later life, he showed a keen interest in the history of medicine and co-wrote a number of books on the subject with his wife.