Wilfred Batten Lewis Trotter 1872–1939

The general surgeon, Wilfred Trotter (1872–1939), earned a reputation for his advances in head and neck surgery and his important contribution to the founding concepts of biosociology. He pioneered an operation for resection of tumours of the oropharynx, which he published in 1920. He also recognised the importance of total excision of tumours regardless of anatomical boundaries. At a time when antibiotics were not available, Trotter advocated extraction of all teeth before operations and relied on elective tracheostomy to secure the airway and to reduce infection, of both the lungs and tissues of the neck. He persevered with surgery at a time when the introduction of radiotherapy was completely altering the management of head and neck cancers. Unfortunately he did not publish his results, but nevertheless, made an important contribution to the subject of pharyngeal cancer.