Trendelenburg was interested in the history of surgery. He founded the German Surgical Society in 1872. Trendelenburg was also interested in the surgical removal of pulmonary emboli. His student Martin Kirschner performed the first successful pulmonary embolectomy in 1924, shortly before Trendelenburg's death. He died in 1924 of cancer of the mandible, aged 80.
Named after Friedrich Trendelenburg
A number of medical treatments and terminologies have been named after Friedrich Trendelenburg, including:
Trendelenburg's cannula: a cannula used during surgery of the larynx to prevent the patient from swallowing blood during surgery involving the head and neck.