Mark L. Mason

Mark Leon Mason (24 October 1915 – 29 January 1972) was a British orthopaedic surgeon. In 1954 he gave the first detailed classification of radial head fractures.

During his service during the Second World War in the Royal Air Force, Mason organised surgical teams in North Africa and Burma, where he acquired experience in trauma surgery from battlefield injuries. He later took up surgical posts at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Bournemouth, the West London Hospital, Hammersmith, and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children. After obtaining a fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh he worked in orthopaedics in South East Kent.

Early life and education Mark Mason was born on 24 October 1915. He obtained the conjoint diploma from St Bartholomew's Hospital in 1939.

Career In April 1941, during his service in the Royal Air Force in the Second World War, Mason organised surgical teams in North Africa and Burma, where he acquired experience in trauma surgery from battlefield injuries. His grouping was based on a review of 100 consecutive cases and their treatments, which he documented in a landmark paper titled "Some Observations on Fractures of the Head of the Radius with a Review of One Hundred Cases". This classification system was later modified by G. W. Johnston and Robert N. Hotchkiss.

Death Mason died at the age of 56 on 29 January 1972, and was survived by his wife and three children.

Selected publications