Henry Gray (Scottish surgeon)

For other people named Henry Gray, see Henry Gray (disambiguation).

Sir Henry McIlltree Williamson Gray (1870–1938) was a Scottish surgeon who made very important contributions to the treatment of wounded soldiers during the First World War. He pioneered the operation of wound excision, which is a procedure to systematically remove all devitalised and contaminated tissue, leaving only healthy bleeding tissue behind.[1][2] Wound excision saved limbs and lives by reducing the incidence of major wound infections, including gas gangrene. Gray was also an expert in the management of compound fractures of the femur, which carried a mortality of 80% in 1914–1915.[3]

  1. ^ Gray, H.M.W., The treatment of gunshot wounds by excision and primary suture. Journal Royal Army Medical Corps June 1915.
  2. ^ Gray, H.M.W., Treatment of Gunshot wounds by excision and primary suture. British Medical Journal 1915; 2: p. 317.
  3. ^ Watson, F., The Life of Sir Robert Jones. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1934, p.158.