Problems in 1848

• pain:

  • patients were often given alcohol, but there was no way to numb the body or make people unconcious so they didn't feel anything
  • This meant surgeons had to work extremely quickly to limit pain
  • the patient had to be held down by several people, but it was impossible to keep them completely Still
  • this meant surgeons Often made mistakes and were only able to carry out simple operations
• Infection

  People didn't understand how infection happened, and because of that:

  • surgeons and their patients wore their normal clothes
  • the surgeon may wash his hands, but he didn't wear gloves
  • the instruments used and the conditions in surgery were unhygienic
  • surgical wounds were covered with unclean bandages
• Bleeding:

  • Tourniquets were used to stop blood flowing during the operations. This did help stop the blood, but Often caused nerve damage
  • Caterisation was used, but this was extremely painful and caused further damage to other body tissue
  • Ligatures were also used, but this was difficult to do when the patient was not completely Still and often led to infection