In 1907 he became chief surgeon at the University of Greifswald, and in 1910 was appointed professor of surgery at the University of Königsberg. The following year he relocated to Leipzig, where he remained until his retirement in 1937.
Payr was regarded as an excellent physician known for his expertise in all facets of surgery. He was the first surgeon to use ozone treatments in order to control and kill bacteria, a practice he learned from Swiss therapist E.A. Fisch. In 1935 he published Über Ozonbehandlung in der Chirurgie (Ozone Treatment in Surgery).[1] Also he introduced the use of absorbable magnesiumsutures in vascular and nerve surgery.
He first reported animal experiments with readsorbable magnesium tubular device for vascular anastomosis elegantly realizing intima-to-intima facing, however just identifying in that first report its implicit mechanical limits.[2] He used elderberry stems for capillary drainage of brain abscesses.[3]
Gravestone of Erwin Payr and his wife Helene at Südfriedhof Leipzig
Splenic-flexure syndrome or "Payr's disease" is named after a condition he described. Payr's disease is constipation due to kinking of an adhesion between the transverse and descending colon. Also a tool used in abdominal surgery called a "Payr pylorusclamp" is named after him, as is "Payr's sign", an indication of thrombophlebitis in which pain occurs when pressure is applied to the sole of the foot.[4]
Parts of this article are based on a translation of an article from the German Wikipedia.
^[1] Ozone and Its Usage
in General Medicine and Dentistry, Prague Medical Report- Vol. 109 (2008) No. 1, p. 5–13
^Payr E. Beitrage zur Technik der Blutgefass und Nervennaht nebst Mittheilungentiber die Verwendung eines resorbierbaren Metalles in der Chirurgie. Arch Klin Chir; 1900; 62:67–93
^NCBI Klinik und Poliklinik für Neurochirurgie, Universität Leipzig. Erwin Payr and his Contributions to Neurosurgery