PastMatters

Modern Surgery

In the modern period Surgeons had to win three battles before they could be successful:
1 Pain
2 Infection
3 Blood Loss  

Many operations were successful only for patients to die of one or more of these problems.

1 Pain    Once anaesthetics were invented the problem of pain was soon overcome. Wells used laughing gas in 1844, followed by Simpson and the use of ether. Ether wasn’t reliable (it didn’t always work!) and smelled horribly. He refined his ideas and in 1847 discovered chloroform.   After 1847 surgeons were then spurred onto attempt more complex and dangerous operations.   Opposition was still very strong: people believed that childbirth ought to be painful (as it said in the Bible), and some people died after allergic reaction or blood loss anyway.
2 Infection    Lister tackled infection successfully with his Carbolic Acid spray in 1876. Initially unpopular as it was messy, and made surgical instruments slippery. Once the survival rate started to improve people were more positive. Aseptic surgery meant freedom from germs in the operation.

3 Blood Loss   In 1900 Blood groups were discovered and donors and recipients could be properly matched. Transfusions became successful and by now far more people survived than died under the surgeons’ knives.   After World War Two blood banks were set up, this lead to organ transplants being possible. Dr Christaan Barnard transplanted the first human heart in 1967.

Advances at the end of the 20th C have been rapid; plastic organs, keyhole surgery and laser surgery are all now routine and much safer.   A growth in science and technology, wars and knowledge from improved communication and from industry have driven this progress.