Izvorni znanstveni članak
Valdoltra and Osteoarticular Tuberculosis among Slovenians – The 100th Anniversary of the Valdoltra Hospital
Zvonka Zupanič Slavec
Senta Jaunig
Sažetak
The 100th anniversary of the hospital in Valdoltra, Slovenia, on the northeastern Adriatic coast near the Italian frontier
– where borders have frequently changed (the town has belonged to Austria-Hungary, Italy, Yugoslavia, and Slovenia)
and which experienced military occupation in the interwar period – offers an opportunity to review the professional path
of this institution. The hospital was established in 1909 as an act of charity by the Trieste Friends of Children Society
due to the high incidence of scrofula as well as bone and extrapulmonary tuberculosis among Trieste children. With 270
beds, it provided medical assistance to sick children and also later to adults. After the First World War, its management
was assumed by the Italian Red Cross, which built an additional wing in 1934 and increased the hospital’s capacity to
340 beds. After Italy’s capitulation, German soldiers occupied the hospital and left it in shambles at the end of the war. In
September 1945, the hospital was renovated and taken over by the Slovenian healthcare system; 400 beds were again
available for treating bone tuberculosis patients. This did not last for long. By 1947, after the Treaty of Peace with Italy
was signed and Valdoltra became the central Yugoslav institution for treating bone tuberculosis, the hospital had to be
relocated to Rovinj, Croatia due to the political division of the Trieste region into Zones A and B. Only in 1952 did the
hospital return to Valdoltra and continue its mission. In the twentieth century, tuberculosis was treated similarly everywhere
until antitubercular agents were discovered. At first, conservative climatic and hygiene-dietary methods, orthopedic
aids, plaster corsets, and physiotherapy were used to treat bone tuberculosis. This was followed by surgical treatment,
which came into vogue after 1945, when it was supported by antibiotic treatment, and (postoperative) physiotherapy and
rehabilitation. Chemotherapeutic agents and preventive outpatient BCG-vaccination proved successful in curing bone
tuberculosis and other forms of tuberculosis, and the number of consumptive patients continued to decrease. The Valdoltra
hospital has preserved its tradition of treating osteoarticular pathologies and has been the main Slovenian orthopedic
hospital since 1961.
Ključne riječi
tuberculosis; osteoarticular; treatment; history of medicine; tuberculosis hospital; social diseases; Valdoltra; Slovenia
Hrčak ID:
75655
URI
Datum izdavanja:
30.12.2011.
Posjeta: 1.285 *