(1-11-17) History of Nitrous Oxide Flashcards
what was surgery like before anesthesia?
- painful
- short
- last resort
*was accepted as an inescapable aspect of necessary treatment
what was civilian surgery like in the 1800’s?
- 333 surgeries were recorded at Mass. general hospital (about one a month)
- operations lasted btw 5 and 15 minutes
- surgery was used to treat otherwise hopeless cases
*physicians used sopoforics, narcotics, hypnosis, counterirritants (stinging), and uncounciousness (blow to the jaw)
what was introduced in 1844 that was considered state of the art?
- opium
- *large side-effects and dangerous
- *not sufficient to eliminate pts response
- alcohol
- *stupefaction-inducing dose had serious side effect like nausea, vomitting, and death
lived from 1733-1804
- co-discoverer of oxygen
- discovered nitrous oxide in 1774
- did NOT pursue medical uses of gases
Joseph Priestley
(also was an outspoken supporter of american and french revolutions, controversial unitarian minister, invented carbonated beverages)
- surgical apprentice in 1795
- in 1798 became superintendent of The Pneumatic Institute
- research focused on pulmonary TB tx with gases
- tried nitrous oxide on himself
Humphry Davy
*cauderized a dog bite wound on his own leg, without nitrous oxide
Considered the Father of Laughing Gas
*he is the one that suggested that nitrous oxide could be used to alleviate the pain of surgery
Humphry Davy
*this is because he described the feeling of Nitrous Oxide as an agreeable sense of giddiness
why was humphry davy’s suggestion that nitrous oxide should be used for medicine ignored?
bc it was already becoming a recreational drug and not viewed seriously
- a large competitor to nitrous oxide
- used “animal magnetism” to hypnotize subjects
- very popular in vienna then paris
- sponsored by marie antoinette after he moved to paris
Franz Anton Mesmer
*left Vienna in 1778 after being branded a fraud
T/F nitrous oxide capers appeared in traveling medicine shows and carnivals
TRUE
- public would pay to inhale a minutes worth of the gas
- laugh and act silly until the effect of the drug ended, then stand about in confusion
med school dropout that promulgated nitrous oxide in america
gardner quincy colton
discoverer of anesthesia
Dr, Horace Wells
what occured in Dr. Well’s Epiphany?
- Well’s learns that Cooley was unaware of the injury until after the nitrous effect ended, and RECOGNIZES THE IMPORTANCE
- he persuades Dr. Colton to come to his office for an experiment
- the next day, while under nitrous oxide, Wells was his own molar removed painlessly by another dentist
How did the presentation of Well’s epiphany go?
poorly
- during the procedure, the pt cried out
- Wells was booed and hissed from the room as a humbug
*when asked later though, the pt had no memory of the surgery
- trainee and partner of Horace Wells
- was present at Wells’ failed demonstration
- continued experimenting with anesthesia using ether
Dr. William T.G. Morton
what and when was the first SUCCESSFUL demonstration of anesthesia
- oct. 16th, 1846
- Morton anesthetized the pt with inhaled ether
- Dr. JC Warren removed a tumor from the neck of a pt that was unresponsive
- Warren pronounced the anesthetic a success “Gentlemen, this is no humbug”
*pt later stated that the incision felt like a hoe was dragged across his neck
