Charles Alfred Ballance

Charles Alfred Ballance (1856-1936) was an English surgeon who specialized in the fields of otology and neurotology. For much of his professional life he was associated with St. Thomas' Hospital and National Hospital, Queen Square in London. He was the first president of the Society of British Neurological Surgeons, and was a colleague of famed surgeon Victor Horsley (1857-1916).

Ballance is remembered for his pioneer work involving nerve grafting and neurologic surgery. He is credited as being the first physician to perform a facial nerve to spinal accessory nerve anastomosis for treatment of facial palsy. He also did the first operation for complete removal of a cerebellopontine angle tumor, as well as being one of the first surgeons to perform a radical mastoidectomy with ligation of the jugular vein. Ballance is also remembered for successfully sectioning the vestibulocochlear nerve (cranial nerve VIII) as a remedy for intractable vertigo.

Ballance published over 75 articles during his career, his best known work being the 1919 Essays on the Surgery of the Temporal bone. Later in life he was knighted as "Sir Charles Alfred Ballance" for his many contributions made in medicine.

Associated eponym:

 * Ballance's sign: Fixed dullness in the left flank, and shifting dullness in the right flank while the patient is lying on his left side. Associated with rupture of the spleen in abdominal trauma.