The Balkan beam – Florschütz frame and its use during the Great War

We remember the military medical practice of Croatian surgeon, Vatroslav Florschütz (1879–1967), known for his invention of the traction frame for repositioning bone fracture fragments of the upper and lower extremities. The method, known as the Balkan frame / beam or Balkan splint, was introduced and published in 1911 and used in war medicine thereafter. The memory of this invention adds to our orthopaedic heritage and sheds light on its creator working under the most demanding war circumstances. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I, reminiscence of Florschütz's war experience, his orthopaedic innovation and other innovations contributes to our understanding of human efforts to save lives and restore bodily function of the wounded during wars.