380:
512:, and used to treat at least 15 patients. Moreover, he conducted clinical research on "the use of ivory powder in place of cancellous bone to pack the resulting cavities of giant cell tumour of bone after curettage"; at least 27 cases were treated using this method. Ivory powder was also used to pack bone cavities resulting from other diseases. In 1978 alone, in at least six cases, completely amputated hands were rejoined by means of microsurgery under his supervision.
461:
using his own funds until 1965 when he finally received financial support from the
Burmese government. He and his team "experimented with ivory and manufactured other implants such as phalangeal prostheses, total elbow arthroplasties, cup arthroplasty, THAs , ivory plates, screws, Rush pins, and even a scaphoid prosthesis." (His assistants included Dr. Khin Maung Tu, Dr. Kyaw Myint Naing and Dr. Meik.) By 1969, he had performed more than 100 ivory hip replacements.
601:
inaugural Dr. San Baw GM’58 Honorary
Lecture in Orthopedic Innovation, Dr. Szostakowski gave the inaugural lecture, "Dr. San Baw: The Forgotten Innovator in Orthopedic Biologic Reconstruction". According to Myint Zan, the school will hold the lecture annually "in perpetuity". Myint Zan also established the San Baw, MD, GM’58 Memorial Fund in Palliative Oncology in support of Palliative Care at Penn Medicine.
484:
432:(his alma mater, renamed) as a lecturer in orthopaedics from 1975 to 1980. He also made a number of contributions to the orthopaedic field. He is best known for pioneering the use of "ivory hip prostheses to replace ununited fractures of the neck of the femur," and for developing "a new technique for treating infantile pseudoarthrosis of the tibia."
318:
449:
began investigating the physical properties of ivory using various mechanical tests. Based on the results, he designed "his novel ivory hip specifically for patients with longstanding nonunions of displaced femoral neck fractures, ankylosing spondylitis, and avascular necrosis. His designs were based on a
Thomson
520:
San Baw retired in
October 1980, at the age of 58. A heavy smoker since he was ten, San Baw spent his last years fighting lung cancer. According to his son, smoking was a "sensitive" topic for him, and even his wife and son had to approach the subject "with great care". He died on 7 December 1984 in
448:
in 1927 but did not gain widespread use like metallic prostheses. San Baw believed that ivory, in addition to "having better biologic properties than those of metal alloys", would also be cheaper and easier to obtain than metallic alloys in his country. Soon after his arrival at MGH, he and his team
473:
prostheses. He believed it could be an affordable and effective option in countries where ivory was in abundant in supply. He also emphasized that the ivory for his prostheses came from elephants that had died from natural death, and that the country had about 2000 elephants in captivity. His paper
423:
San Baw went on to become the country's preeminent orthopaedic surgeon. He led the orthopaedic surgery department at MGH from 1957 to 1975, and that at RGH from 1975 to 1980 as well as helped to establish the practice of microsurgery at RGH and its affiliates in 1978. He also taught orthopaedics at
557:
San Baw's assistants carried on ivory hip replacements for at least until 1995. In all, Dr. San Baw and his successors implanted over 500 handmade ivory hip replacements between 1960 and 1995. As of 2014, at least one patient who had received an ivory hip replacement performed by San Baw's former
460:
named Daw Ponnya. The ivory prosthesis was hand-carved by an expert ivory craftsman named Tin Aung, who would later go on to shape San Baw's hip prostheses from the "long axes of ivory tusks harvested from
Burmese elephants that died naturally". San Baw continued to refine his prosthesis designs
600:
published a paper on ivory hemiarthroplasty that recounted the work and findings of San Baw and his team. The
University of Pennsylvania Department of Orthopedic Surgery later agreed to hold annual lectures in Dr. San Baw's memory after Myint Zan made a donation to the school. In 2018, at the
468:
conference held in London in
September 1969. He read the paper “Ivory Hip Replacements for Ununited Fractures of the Neck of Femur”, and reported an 88% success rate with his patients, ranging in age from 24 to 87, able to walk, squat, ride a bicycle and play football a few weeks after their
565:
magazine carried a short notice of San Baw's death with a brief description of his achievements in 1988, only after Myint Zan had contacted them. (In contrast, Myint Myint Khin's death in 2014 was carried by
Burmese publications as well as by at least one international journal
359:
from latter primary school to high school, graduating in 1942. However, the arrival of World War II in late 1941 had shut down all the few colleges in the country, and it was only in 1944 that he was able to enroll at the wartime medical school, founded a year earlier by Drs.
549:, an English language poetry book, was inspired by her late husband. The couple had a son, Myint Zan, a former professor of law, who taught at universities in Malaysia, Australia, the South Pacific and the United States from 1989 to 2016.
595:
San Baw's work was forgotten internationally until the 2010s. A UK-based Polish orthopaedic surgeon
Bartlomiej Szostakowski became interested in San Baw's career by accident, and in 2017, he and his two other colleagues from the
533:, a fellow Rangoon medical school classmate, in 1953. Both were graduates of the class of 1950. Also a graduate of Penn Medicine, she followed him to Mandalay in 1960 after being appointed Clinical Professor of Medicine at the
469:
fractured hip bones were replaced with ivory prostheses. In addition to the effectiveness, a major advantage San Baw highlighted was cost. His ivory prosthesis cost "as little as $ 720", and was much cheaper than titanium and
480:. From 1969 to the time of his retirement in 1980, additional 200 to 300 hip prostheses were implanted. After recovery, most patients could perform everyday tasks like walking, squatting, and even playing sports.
400:
221:
652:
See his obituary in (BMA 1984), which makes no mention of any awards. He had not received any recognition by subsequent governments either at least to 2005; see (Khin Thet Hta et al 2005).
1190:
561:
San Baw died in relative obscurity. His contributions were not widely known internationally. According to his son, no international publications carried the news. The
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assistant Prof. Meik in 1994, was still alive; the then 93-year-old patient reported that she had been using her ivory hip without limitation for the past 20 years.
1200:
592:
established Dr. San Baw
Research Fund to be used for "various research activities, primarily—but not solely—related to orthopedic research and training".
1195:
399:
from 1951 to 1954, helping to establish the Department of Orthopaedics at RGH. From 1954 to 1957, he pursued postgraduate studies in orthopaedics at the
580:
San Baw's family has tried to keep his memory alive. Right after his death, Myint Myint Khin established the Dr. San Baw Prize for Research through the
1040:
545:, based out of New Delhi, from 1985 to 1991. She had a second career as a writer, publishing 13 books between 1996 and 2013. Her last published work
1175:
1180:
1007:
476:
588:), and it is unclear if more funds were added later or how long the prize lasted. Myint Myint Khin died in 2014. In 2019, Myint Zan and the
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See Figs. 2–4 in (Szostakowski et al 2017: 2852–2853) for the x-rays of both hips: the 1994 ivory prosthesis and the 2014 metal prosthesis.
597:
1090:
Szostakowski, Bartek; Jagiello, Jakub; Skinner, John A. (13 September 2017), "Ivory Hemiarthroplasty: The Forgotten Concept Lives On",
635:
See (Yan Pai 2014) for the English and Burmese versions of Myint Myint Khin's obituary. See (Stafford 2014) for her obituary in the
440:
San Baw got the idea to use ivory for hip replacements during his days at Penn. Hip replacements using ivory had been performed by
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His first ivory prosthesis was used for the first time in 1960. It replaced the un-united femoral neck fracture of an 83-year-old
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in orthopedics in 1958. Upon his return from the US in November 1957, he was appointed chief of orthopaedic surgery at
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967:
581:
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286:(1975–1980), he performed over 300 ivory hip prosthesis surgeries over his career. He also taught orthopaedics at the
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to encourage medical research in the country. However, it was funded only by a relatively small seed amount (30,000
266:. He is best known for pioneering "the use of ivory hip prostheses to replace ununited fractures of the neck of the
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395:(RGH) in June 1950. There, he specialized in general and orthopaedic surgery, and trained under American surgeon
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on a state scholarship, and studied under professors Paul C. Colonna and J.T. Nicholson. He graduated with an
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617:(BMA 1984: 1) and (Myint Zan 2019): He officially graduated from Penn Medicine in February 1958 in absentia.
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347:. His parents apparently were well-to-do and lived around the country as he went to St. Agnes' Convent in
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San Baw pioneered other techniques. He "developed a new technique for the treatment of congenital
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established the Dr. San Baw Research Fund to support orthopedic research and training activities.
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4 May 2015) states that the magazine would be running the obituary of Myint Myint Khin shortly.
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Inaugural San Baw, MD Honorary Lecture in Orthopaedic Innovation Dr. Bartek Szostakowski
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453:, but with major modifications to the stem, and later, to the head and neck junction."
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1080:
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established the Dr. San Baw Prize for Research. In 2019, their son Myint Zan and the
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in the country's northeast for the first few years of primary school, and attended
22:
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Special USIS News Release: Surgeons Hear of U San Baw's Success with Ivory Bones
428:(later renamed the Institute of Medicine, Mandalay) from 1957 to 1975, and the
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26:
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After his death from complications from lung cancer in 1984, his wife Prof.
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1121:
1063:"Myint Myint Khin: Legendary Burmese doctor and teacher, and later a poet"
150:
1000:
The Japanese Era Rangoon General Hospital: Memoir of a Wartime Physician
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had not conferred any titles to him in recognition of his achievements.
1002:, translated by Zarny Tun (1st ed.), Yangon: Myanmar Book Centre,
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508:", which was published in the February 1975 British edition of
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262:; 29 June 1922 – 7 December 1984) was a Burmese
569:
1144:"Myint Myint Khin, Well-Known Doctor and Writer, Dead at 91"
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Khin Thet Hta; Khin Khin Win; Htay Htay Aye; Mya Tu (2005),
270:," and developing "a new technique for treating infantile
521:
Mandalay from complications from lung cancer. He was 62.
16:
Burmese orthopaedic surgeon and ivory prosthesis pioneer
66:
Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery, Mandalay General Hospital
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was published in the February 1970 British edition of
368:. After the war, he enrolled at the just rechristened
50:
Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rangoon General Hospital
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1031:Penn Medicine's Global Reach to the Far East
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385:Faculty of Medicine of University of Rangoon
987:Who's who in Health and Medicine in Myanmar
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185: 1953–1984)
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370:Faculty of Medicine of Rangoon University
1018:"Remembering a Myanmar Surgical Pioneer"
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415:(MGH), a teaching hospital in Mandalay.
1191:University of Medicine 1, Yangon alumni
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973:In Memoriam, Dr. U San Baw (1922–1984)
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391:San Baw started his medical career at
1039:Penn Medicine News (3 January 2019),
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510:The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery
477:The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery
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7:
327:San Baw was born on 29 June 1922 to
1079:Stiles, Daniel (19 November 2002),
856:Szostakowski et al 2017: 2851, 2853
598:Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital
1201:Deaths from lung cancer in Myanmar
1137:, United States Information Agency
953:Boden, Lauren (29 November 2018),
339:, a small town 220km northwest of
14:
1196:University of Pennsylvania alumni
1061:Stafford, Ned (25 October 2014),
1028:Penn Medicine News (4 May 2015),
491:where he taught from 1957 to 1975
77:November 1957 – May 1975
61:June 1975 – October 1980
464:He reported his findings at the
436:Ivory hip prosthesis development
430:Institute of Medicine 1, Rangoon
292:Institute of Medicine 1, Rangoon
1176:20th-century Burmese physicians
1042:Honoring an Orthopaedic Pioneer
489:Institute of Medicine, Mandalay
466:British Orthopaedic Association
288:Institute of Medicine, Mandalay
182:
1050:Seidler, Jodi (27 June 2011),
357:St. Paul's English High School
1:
1016:Myint Zan (7 December 2019),
996:Myint Swe, Wunna Kyawhtin Dr.
990:, Ministry of Health, Myanmar
847:Szostakowski et al 2017: 2852
806:Szostakowski et al 2017: 2850
783:Szostakowski et al 2017: 2851
717:Khin Thet Hta et al 2005: 513
1181:Burmese orthopaedic surgeons
763:Penn Medicine 3 January 2019
1098:(12), Springer: 2850–2854,
1053:History of Hip Replacements
979:, Burma Medical Association
590:Myanmar Orthopaedic Society
307:Myanmar Orthopaedic Society
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222:University of Pennsylvania
33:. There is no family name.
20:
1104:10.1007/s11999-017-5497-0
968:Burma Medical Association
582:Burma Medical Association
543:World Health Organization
413:Mandalay General Hospital
303:Burma Medical Association
280:Mandalay General Hospital
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81:
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1142:Yan Pai (20 June 2014),
1128:USIS (15 October 1969),
1082:Ivory Carving in Myanmar
426:Mandalay Medical College
393:Rangoon General Hospital
313:Early life and education
284:Rangoon General Hospital
1186:People from Bago Region
1071:British Medical Journal
740:Myint Swe 2014: 105–106
294:throughout his career.
553:Legacy and recognition
539:University of Mandalay
492:
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322:St. Paul's High School
107:Friday, 6th waxing of
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382:
372:, graduating with an
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213:University of Rangoon
144:Friday, Full moon of
458:Burmese Buddhist nun
446:Ernest W. Hey Groves
535:Faculty of Medicine
496:Other contributions
383:His alma mater the
282:(1957–1975) and at
264:orthopaedic surgeon
939:Penn Medicine 2019
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442:Themistocles Gluck
389:
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204:Thaw Zan and Si Si
1009:978-99971-852-9-7
681:Stafford 2014: 24
259:[sàɰ̃bɔ̀]
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105:29 June 1922
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343:(Yangon) in
335:Thaw Zan in
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301:through the
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72:
56:
30:
23:Burmese name
18:
1171:1984 deaths
1166:1922 births
1085:, Asian Art
921:BMA 1984: 5
893:BMA 1984: 4
877:BMA 1984: 3
831:Stiles 2002
731:BMA 1984: 1
397:P.F. Greene
290:and at the
1160:Categories
660:References
516:Last years
331:Si Si and
255:pronounced
138:1984-12-08
101:1922-06-29
27:given name
754:USIS 1969
471:vitallium
209:Education
201:Parent(s)
196:Myint Zan
73:In office
57:In office
1122:28905301
998:(2014),
970:(1984),
193:Children
151:Mandalay
21:In this
1113:5670068
573:.) The
537:of the
504:of the
407:and an
366:Yin May
362:Ba Than
353:Rangoon
341:Rangoon
274:of the
247:Burmese
243:San Baw
187:
179:
175:
159:Myanmar
148:1346 ME
136: (
95:San Baw
40:San Baw
31:San Baw
1120:
1110:
1006:
419:Career
251:စံဘော်
165:Spouse
25:, the
1135:(PDF)
1066:(PDF)
977:(PDF)
960:(PDF)
605:Notes
586:kyats
506:tibia
349:Kalaw
337:Tapun
276:tibia
268:femur
181:(
177:
146:Nadaw
117:Tapun
111:1284
1118:PMID
1004:ISBN
568:The
487:The
374:MBBS
217:MBBS
131:Died
109:Waso
91:Born
1108:PMC
1100:doi
1096:475
639:. (
637:BMJ
570:BMJ
355:'s
329:Daw
29:is
1162::
1146:,
1116:,
1106:,
1094:,
1068:,
1020:,
914:^
898:^
882:^
861:^
836:^
811:^
788:^
768:^
745:^
722:^
704:^
686:^
668:^
409:MS
405:MD
253:,
249::
230:MS
228:,
226:MD
219:)
183:m.
157:,
153:,
123:,
119:,
113:ME
1102::
333:U
245:(
232:)
224:(
215:(
140:)
103:)
99:(
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