Surgery

• Big 3 problems of 18th and early 19th century surgery:

  • Bleeding - patients often bleed to death.
  • Infection - before germ theory, surgeons were very unhygienic.
  • Pain - alcohol and opium was used to make patients insensible before surgery. Speed of surgery was another way to cope with pain for a patient.
• 1780 surgery:

  3 successful methods:

  • Amputations.
  • Trephinging (drilling hole in your skull to remove evil spirits).
  • Removal of superficial tumours.
• Thomas Beddoes and Humphey Davey's invention in 1795:

  • Discovered nitrous oxide (laughing gas). Found out that it makes you giddy and relaxed.
  • They didn't realise the medical potential this had.
• William Clarke discovered ether in 1842 which was an anasthetic.
• In 1844, Horace Wells realised the anaesthetic potential of laughing gas, and used nitrous oxide as anaesthesia.
• James Simpson, 1847:

  • Discovered chloroform.
  • Disliked ether as it was flamable and it irrated the lungs.
  • Chloroform was easier to administer and was less dangerous.