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Surgery, anaesthetics, antiseptics and nursing, c1700 to c1900
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Before 1840, surgery faced three big problems: pain, infection and bleeding. Nineteenth-century breakthroughs tackled the first two, and nursing was transformed.
Anaesthetics
In 1847 James Simpson discovered that chloroform made patients unconscious.
Surgeons could work more slowly and carefully.
At first some objected: dosage was hard to judge and some patients died. Acceptance grew after Queen Victoria used chloroform during childbirth in 1853.
Surgeons could work more slowly and carefully.
At first some objected: dosage was hard to judge and some patients died. Acceptance grew after Queen Victoria used chloroform during childbirth in 1853.
Antiseptics
Joseph Lister, inspired by Pasteur's germ theory, used carbolic acid to kill germs on wounds, bandages and instruments from 1865 (he published his results in 1867).
Infection rates fell. By the 1890s surgeons moved to aseptic surgery: keeping germs away altogether with sterilised instruments, gowns and gloves.
Infection rates fell. By the 1890s surgeons moved to aseptic surgery: keeping germs away altogether with sterilised instruments, gowns and gloves.
Nursing and hospitals
Florence Nightingale improved hygiene in the army hospital at Scutari during the Crimean War (1854 to 1856), and the death rate fell.
She set up the Nightingale School for nurses at St Thomas' Hospital in 1860, making nursing a trained profession. Hospitals became cleaner and better designed.
She set up the Nightingale School for nurses at St Thomas' Hospital in 1860, making nursing a trained profession. Hospitals became cleaner and better designed.
Why did Lister's antiseptics face opposition at first?
- Carbolic acid irritated surgeons' skin and was unpleasant.
- Many doctors did not yet accept germ theory.
- It slowed operations down.
Answer: It was unpleasant and many did not accept germ theory yet.
Problems of surgery: pain, infection, bleeding. Simpson's chloroform (1847), Lister's carbolic acid (from 1865), then aseptic surgery. Nightingale: Crimean War, nursing school 1860.
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