AWARDEE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES PRIZE

SHI JIXIANG

Abstract

Professor Shi Jixiang was born in Shanghai in December, 1921. He was an undergra-duate at Aurora University in Shanghai and received his degree in medicine from the Faculty of Medicine in 1947. From 1947-1951 Dr. Shi served his residency in surgery at the Universitys teaching hospital, Ste. Marie Hospital. From then until 1961 he served in various positions at the same hospital, now known as the Rui Jin Hospital, including junior attending surgeon, senior surgeon, deputy director of the Department of Surgery, and then assistant and associate professor of the Department. Dr. Shi rose to professor of Surgery, Shanghai Second Medical University, in 1978 and was appointed chairman of the Department of Surgery of Rui Jin Hospital in 1985.
In 1958 Dr. Shi participated in the treatment of an extensive burned patient whose burn covered 89% of the BSA (body surface area) with 23% of third degree. This was the first case reported with successful management of such an extensive burn at that time. Since then a burn center was set up in the hospital in the same year, Dr. Shi was director of the Burn centre in 1963. For the past four decades, more than 12 000 cases were treated at the Burn Centre. Treatment and result have been much improved in the past 39 years, The LA50 S (i.e., the percentage of BSA burned proved lethal for 50% of the patients) were calculated for the periods 1958-1965 and 1974-1988. The results showed that the improvement achieved in patients with third degree involvement (LA50 of third degree burns rose from 31.28% to 56.32%) was quite significant.
The main difficulty in the treatment of extensive third-degree burns is how to close the burn wound and ultimately restore the integrity of integument by patients own skin. As a result, patients with extensive full-thickness burns have little chance to survive. In 1966 Dr. Shi and his colleagues introduced a new techniques, termed the intermingled transplantation, in the management of extensive third-degree burns. The new method consisted of early excision of eschar in stages and covering the wound after surgical excision with large sheets of punctured allograft inlaid with small pieces of autografts which will gradually expands, the wound surface will finally be completely covered by autografts. Using this method we were able to save the life of six patients with third-degree burns to 90%. This achievement was awarded the Prize of the Great Achievement in Science and Technology of Shanghai in 1977, the Scientific and Technical Award of the National Ministry of Public Health in 1978, the Prize of National Science and Technology Progress in 1985.
For the past four decades Dr. Shi has been a pioneer and devoted his life in contributing the basic science and clinical care of burned patients. Dr. Shi has published over hundred original articles and is the author or editor of 10 books relating to shock, water and electrolyts balance, acute renal failure, use of antibiotics, treatment of burns, burns in China, etc. Dr. Shi received the Evans Award in 1988, and the G. Whitaker Prize in 1989.