Albert Hoffa

Albert Hoffa (31 March 1859 – 31 December 1907) was a German surgeon, orthopedist and physiotherapist born in Richmond, Cape of Good Hope.

Education He studied medicine at Marburg University and the University of Freiburg, earning his doctorate with a thesis on nephritis saturnina (lead nephropathy).

Career In 1886, he opened a private clinic for orthopedics, physiotherapy and massage in Würzburg, where in 1895 he became an associate professor at the university. In 1902 he succeeded Julius Wolff (1836-1902) at the department of orthopedics in Berlin.

Hoffa is remembered for introducing an operation for congenital hip dislocations (1890), as well as for developing a system of massage therapy (Hoffa system). His name is further associated with an anatomical structure, Hoffa's fat pad, and a condition affecting it, known as "Hoffa's fat pad disease", characterized by chronic knee pain primarily beneath the patella.

In 1892 he founded the journal Zeitschrift für orthopädische Chirurgie.

Selected writings Lehrbuch der Fracturen und Luxationen für Ärzte und Studierende, 1888 - Textbook of fractures and luxations for physicians and students. Lehrbuch der orthopädischen Chirurgie, 1891 - Textbook of orthopedic surgery. Technik der Massage, 1893 - Technique of massage. Atlas und Grundriss der Verbandlehre, 1897 - Atlas and outline of the teaching association. Die orthopädische Literatur, 1905 - Orthopedic literature.