19th century advances in surgery

• Surgery in the early 19th century


  Unpleasant, patient not anesthetized, no precautions to prevent infection, speed was key, main causes of death were pain, infection, blood loss, and shock
• Anesthesia in the 1840s


  Ether could make patient unconscious but was dangerous, needed a better anesthetic
• James Simpson and chloroform


  Discovered chloroform by chance, realized it had anesthetic properties, published and shared his ideas, popular with women but not everyone supported it
• Nitrous oxide (laughing gas)


  First used medically in 1844, reasonably safe, had an analgesic effect, patient remained awake and responsive, disadvantages were it was not a general anesthetic and had unwanted euphoric effects
• Joseph Lister and antiseptic surgery


  Used carbolic spray during operations to prevent infections, reduced fatalities in his operations from 45% to 15%, inspired by Pasteur's germ theory, disadvantages were it stung and irritated the lungs and patient's wound, made surgeon's hands sore, later superseded by steam cleaning
• Early 19th century surgery


  Patient not anesthetized, no precautions to prevent infection
• Late 19th century surgery

  Patient anesthetized with chloroform, specialized sterilized tools, qualified and professional surgeon, carbolic spray used to sterilize air and surgeon's hands, patient no longer needs to be held down, deeper and more ambitious procedures possible, risk of pain, infection, blood loss, and shock greatly reduced
• Edward Jenner with vaccinations, prevented smallpox and saved billions of lives


  1798
• James Simpson discovers chloroform anesthetic


  1847
• Louis Pasteur writes up his germ theory


  1861
• Joseph Lister introduces antiseptic surgery with carbolic spray


  1867
• Robert Koch identifies diseases based on specific bacteria using germ theory

  1882
• Progress in the 19th century solved many of the dangers of surgery: pain was relieved through anesthetics, infection was reduced through understanding of germs and antiseptic techniques, blood loss was better controlled, and shock was reduced