Sidney Yankauer

Sidney Yankauer (1872–1932) was an American otolaryngologist. Working at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, Yankauer was among the first surgeons to specialize in problems of the ear, nose and throat. A common medical suction device, the Yankauer suction tip, is named for him.

Early life
Yankauer was born in New York. His parents were German Jewish immigrants to the United States. He completed undergraduate studies at the City College of New York. He graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1893.

Career
Following an internship at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, he took a position there. He worked with outpatient surgery patients for several years. Though otolaryngology was in its infancy, he increasingly focused on problems of the ear, nose and throat. Known for his medical innovations, Yankauer devised a suction device for the mouth known as the Yankauer suction tip. The device remains in use in modern medical settings. He was president of the Mount Sinai Alumni Association in 1916. During World War I, Yankauer served as a United States Army major in France, where he worked at a hospital largely staffed by Mount Sinai personnel.

Yankauer helped to design several varieties of wire-mesh anesthesia masks, which were known as the Yankauer mask, the Yankauer-Gwathmey mask, and the modified Yankauer-Gwathmey mask. He was president of the American Broncho-Esophagological Association in 1927.

Personal
Yankauer's wife, Grace Prior, was also an otolaryngologist and the couple shared an office. She died in 1914 after falling out of a window at the couple's tenth floor apartment on Park Avenue. Yankauer married Margaret Kearns, a Mount Sinai nursing administrator, in 1919. They had one child. Yankauer died in 1932.