Georg Kelling

Georg Kelling (July 7 1866 - 1945) was a German internist and surgeon who was born in Dresden. He studied medicine at the Universities of Leipzig and Berlin. He earned his medical doctorate in 1890, and later worked as a physician at the city hospital in Dresden.

Kelling was a specialist concerning gastrointestinal physiology and anatomy. He is credited with performing the first laparoscopic examination, which he called "celioscopy". In 1901 he performed this procedure on the abdomen of a dog using a Nitze-cystoscope. Prior to cystoscopic viewing of the abdomen, Kelling insufflated it with filtered air via a device known as a trocar. Insufflation was used to create a pneumoperitoneum in order to prevent intra-abdominal bleeding.