Joseph Lister was a surgeon who introduced new ideas of cleanliness into the surgical room in the late 1800’s. This new idea completely transformed surgery as we know it today. In today’s world, we take for granted that our surgeons will practice aseptic methods. However, this was not always the case. Until Lister introduced his new idea of sterile surgery, patients could undergo a surgical procedure without any complications, only to die later of a post-operative infection known as ward fever.
Lister was born on April 5, 1827 in Upton England. In 1846, Lister was a student at University College London. He witnessed Europe’s first surgery with the use of chemical anesthesia performed by Professor Robert Liston. He also wrote and presented many papers, one specifically on gangrene, which was
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the most common type of post-operative infection at the time.
Lister graduated with honors in 1852 and went on to join the Royale College of Surgeons. He worked for a year as a surgeon and physician and then moved to Edinburgh where he studied and assisted Dr. James Symes for six years. He went on to marry Syme’s daughter who was a valuable assistant to Lister throughout his career.
Three hurdles had to be overcome in order to have the modern surgical techniques and luxuries we experience today control of blood loss, control of pain, and, the biggest in my opinion, control of infection. The use of anesthesia to control pain was just beginning to be introduced at the time Lister was a student at the University. This allowed surgeons more time to work on complicated procedures and to fine tune their techniques. However, it also left the patients far more susceptible to infections. Infections were very common place in Lister’s time during the 1800’s. About “50 percent of all surgical patients died, both surgeons and society accepted this as being an unpleasant, but unavoidable, side effect.” (Anderson 2008) Lister became familiar with Luis Pasteur’s work on
fermentation. Pasteur discovered that microbes, seen under a microscope, were causing the wine to sour, but by heating up the wine you could kill the microbes. This discovery “led to experiments testing whether putrefaction occurred in substances that air could not reach and the conclusion that hospital infections such as gangrene were caused by microbes in the air or on the hands and instruments of doctors and nurses. He decided that the cycle could be broken by the introduction of a proper antiseptic, and knowing that carbolic acid had been used to purify sewers at Carlisle, he decided to try a dilute mixture on the first appropriate case that came under his care.” (Hartesveldt, Fred R., 2014) Lister began using his antiseptic techniques first on patients with compound fractions. He would dip the bandages in a solution of carbolic acid and change the bandages frequently throughout the day in order to keep germs at bay. Soon patients began healing with no infections. As he began working with his patients, he would make sure his clothes were clean. He would also wash his hands and instruments in the carbolic acid and spray the room with a fine mist of the solution as well. His new sterilization techniques were “able to reduce surgical mortality to 15 percent by 1869.”(Hartesveldt 2014) However, there were some setbacks to the use of carbolic acid. Like most acids it is corrosive and would irritate the healthy tissue of his patients as well as the surgeon’s hands who would wash in it. He continued to try and make improvements to this solution over time. Lister had achieved his goal and discovered a relatively useful method for reducing post-surgical infections. Lister’s new ideas were met with some resistance. Most doctors were busy and didn’t want to take the time to adopt the new procedures. Others found the idea of germs hard to believe in. Some who tried the new techniques did so incorrectly and didn’t achieve the same results. His new method of changing dressings so often also added to the cost involved. It would take around twelve years before his sterile techniques would become accepted worldwide. Lister was given many prestigious positions by the scientific community in recognition of his great contribution to medicine. Lister died on February 10, 1912 at Walmer, Kent England. Although the sterile technique has changed and improved over the years, it’s basic principle still stands today as the cornerstone of modern medicine. Dr. Henry Morris emphasized the importance of Lister’s antiseptic principle when he says, “This development is probably second only to Pasteur’s contribution to the saving of human lives.” (Morris 1982) Lister completely changed the outcome of surgical procedures and through this is he known as “The Father of Modern Medicine”.
A remarkable breakthrough in medicine occurred in the late 1800s through the work of Louis Pasteur. Pasteur's experiments showed that bacteria reproduce like other living things and travel from place to place. Using the results of his findings, he developed pasteurization, which is the process of heating liquids to kill bacteria and prevent fermentation. He also produced an anthrax vaccine as well as a way to weaken the rabies virus. After studying Pasteur's work, Joseph Lister developed antisepsis, which is the process of killing disease-causing germs. In 1865 before an operation, he cleansed a leg wound first with carbolic acid, and performed the surgery with sterilized (by heat) instruments. The wound healed, and the patient survived. Prior to surgery, the patient would've needed an amputation. However, by incorporating these antiseptic procedures in all of his surgeries, he decreased postoperative deaths. The use of antiseptics eventually helped reduce bacterial infection not only in surgery but also in childbirth and in the treatment of battle wounds. Another man that made discoveries that reinforced those of Pasteur's was Robert Koch. Robert Koch isolated the germ that causes tuberculosis, identified the germ responsible for Asiatic cholera, and developed sanitary measures to prevent disease. (1)
“Surgery.” Brought to Life Exploring the History of Medicine. Science Museum, London, n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.
Robinson, Victor, M.D. Victory Over Pain: A History of Anesthesia. New York: Henry Schuman, Inc., 1946.
At the turn of the nineteenth century, medicine was hardly the enlightened profession it is today. Medical practices were often barbaric, employing methods that had been used for centuries, yielding little or no results and often killing the patient with a different affliction than the original ailment. Leeching (or blood letting), purgation, poor liquid diets, and cold water dousing were common practices as late as the 1850's. Even after newer, more effective methods of medical treatment had been introduced, many of the physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries hesitated to use them. Fearing the loss of their reputations, they hung on to superstitious beliefs, doubting the effectiveness of su...
Cohen, Jennie. "A Brief History of Bloodletting." History.com. 30 May 2012. Web. 14 Dec. 2013. .
In the 1700’s things were very different to life today; this included the medicine of the time. The idea of medicine came from the Greeks and they came up with the four humours (consisting of water, fire, air and earth.) By the 1840’s most anaesthetics were accepted as James Simpson presented a powerful case for them; however they didn’t make surgery safer and the amount of people dying from operations increased. The final breakthrough for anaesthetics was when Queen Victoria accepted the use of Chloroform during the delivery of her eighth child. Even though being anesthetised was less painful surgeons did not take any precautions to protect open wounds and infections were spread by the reuse of old bandages!
...ow about internal medicine with the rise of hospital-based training. Eventually, the Company of Surgeons split from the barbers, abolishing surgery training by apprenticeship, as this form of surgical education flourished and barbers were no longer allowed to carry out complex surgical procedure yet for some time they were allowed to carry out some simple procedures like bloodletting and teeth-pulling. In 1745 the London College of Surgeons was established by King George II and the Royal Academy of Surgery was established by King Louis XV in 1748, with all surgeons now being university educated, and with surgery now under a new modern reputation, considered a sophisticated medical skill that can reduce ailment, save lives, and a window to learn more about the physiology of the body as a whole, which is the same goals as that of the traditional physician of medicine.
During the era of the Industrial Revolution, surgeries were very risky procedures. Many times the patients would develop infections and die shortly afterwards even if the actual surgery had been successful. It was generally believed that it was exposure to bad air that caused infections in wounds. Imagine going through an unbelievable amount of pain after surgery, and knowing there is nothing you can possibly do to relieve the pain. Joseph Lister is commonly known as The Father of Modern Surgery. Although even when surgery first came about the patients had to withstand all the pain being that there wasn't any anesthesia. Thanks to him and his very commonly used achievement, the medical field has advanced. Not only has just surgery advanced but all the aspects of surgery have advanced like the surgeon's knowledge, the instruments used, the medicine used during the procedures, etc. Looking back to before surgery was even a thought, it was very rare to receive a cure when going to the hospital. Joseph Lister has become one of the most important men during the Industrial Revolution as well as today.
Fradin, Dennis Brindell. "We Have Conquered Pain": The Discovery of Anesthesia. New York: Simon & Schuster Children's Division, 1996. Print.
The Company publishes "Modern Methods of Antiseptic Wound Treatment," which quickly becomes one of the standard teaching texts for antiseptic surgery. It helps spread the practice of sterile surgery in the U.S. and around the world.
...l as salt could keep wounds clean,and although the process would still be painful, that pain was insignificant compared to pain while in surgery; operations in hospitals were often carried out while the patient remained conscious. When dealing with wounds, in the opinion of insert name here, inflamed wounds should never be closed, but rather dressed with gauze and a varnish, to allow for movement, but also provide support. Infected tissue was drained, while extremely infected tissue was cut off the body completely.
Although surgical operations were performed, they did not know about sanitisation and there were no anaesthetics. Most patients died from infection or shock.
The technology of general anesthesia was still in the early stages so it made many procedures extremely painful. A little
Attempts at anesthesia have been around since people have been preforming surgery, no matter how primitive. Early anesthetics were soporifics or narcotics, these dull the senses and induce sleep. A few of the early anesthetics were belladonna a type of plant, alcohol, marijuana, jimsonweed, mandrake, and opium. While all of these gave some pain relief, none of them guarantee sedation. There has also been attempts to use hypnosis to make people fall asleep. By the 1840’s there was two regularly used anesthetics, opium and alcohol. The only bad thing about both of these is they had negatives to go along with the positives. Two of these negatives were addiction, and neither of them could typically completely dull the pain. If you took doses big enough to get the full affect could just as easily kill you. But this all changed when Dr. William Morton soaked a sponge with ether and put it over his patient’s mouth and nose which made him unconscious. When the patient woke he said he had no memory of the surgery and felt no pain. This discovery changed the world of anesthetics forever.
Although the importance of aseptic technique has been continually reiterated, I have realised its substantial role in the perioperative environment. Aseptic technique refers to the practice of creating and maintaining a sterile environment used for sterile procedures (Laws, 2010a). This is incredibly important as repetitive minor breaches of the sterile environment is one of the major factors increasing the risk of surgical site infection (Harrop et al., 2012).