Hyphenated history: the Hueter-Volkmann law.

The language that orthopedic surgeons speak is filled with eponyms. Perhaps more than any other medical specialty, we speak cryptically to one another using code words and secret language. Certain hyphenated eponyms are particularly interesting, because they pique one's curiosity as to how these persons came to be partners in orthopedic history. We will offer some bits of orthopedic hyphenated history, outlining the pertinent work of the respective authors as well as associated background information. This paper focuses on the Hueter-Volkmann law, an important orthopedic concept concerning bone growth. This law bears the names of the two men credited with enunciating and popularizing it, Carl Hueter and Richard von Volkmann.