Bernhard Riedel

Bernhard Riedel

Bernhard Moritz Carl Ludwig Riedel (1846 - 1916) German surgeon and pioneer in the surgical treatment of appendicitis and cholecystitis. He was the first surgeon to perform choledochoduodenostomy, which is the anastomosis of the common bile duct to the duodenum. His name is associated with Riedel's thyroiditis (ligneous thryroiditis, struma fibromatosis, or invasive fibrous thyroiditis) which is a rare chronic inflammation of the thyroid gland, resulting in replacement with fibrous tissue, causing difficulty in swallowing and breathing, but mostly with euthyroid status. Riedel's lobe is a tongue shaped hepatic process often found over the gallbladder in cases of chronic cholecytitis. Riedel's tumor is an infrequently used term for chronic pancreatitis. In his old age, he underwent amputation of one of his legs due to atherosclerotic complications, but that didn't stop him from being actively involved in medical activities.