1900s Surgery and Anatomy Flashcards
Why could they now do blood transfusions in the 1900s?
- In 1901, Karl Landsteiner discovered the existence of blood groups.
- The problem of storing blood was solved in World War One (WW1). There was a huge need for blood and many soldiers bled to death because there was no store of blood to use. Two breakthroughs solved this problem. Firstly, sodium citrate was added to blood to prevent it clotting. Later in the war, scientists discovered how to separate and store the crucial blood cells and keep them in bottles for future use.
Why could scientists not store blood in the early 1900s?
-When doctors tried to store blood, it clotted and could not be used for transfusions.
What was plastic surgery limited by?
- Pain.
- Danger of Infection.
What led to huge improvements in plastic surgery?
-Terrible injuries of both Word Wars led to great improvements in techniques in plastic surgery, especially the use of skin grafts.
What did surgeons do during both the World Wars?
- In World War One, the injuries were mostly from bullet and shell damage. Surgeons carried out over 11,000 plastic surgery operations, increasing their experience and learning from each other.
- In World War Two, there were many more burns cases in tanks and aeroplanes. Archibald McIndoe alone carried out 4000 operations on burns cases.
When was the first heart transplant?
- The first heart transplant was carried out in South Africa in 1967. Other organs have been transplanted before then (kidneys in 1954 and liver in 1963).
- Since then even more ambitious transplants have been carried out including the first marrow transplant in 1980, and first heart and lung transplant in 1982.
What does transplant surgery depend on?
-High levels of technical skill and the scientific breakthroughs.
What had to happen before transplants became successful?
-Scientists had to first discover drugs to stop the body rejecting organs, and then ‘tissue-typing’ which (like blood groups) matches organs to suitable recipients.
How has keyhole surgery and micro-surgery Coke about?
- A range of technological developments involving computers and miniaturisation. All the tools needed are inside an instrument called an endoscope controlled by the surgeon using miniature cameras, fibre-optic cables and computers.
- Micro-surgery has also developed because of improvements in surgery. Surgeons cannot rejoin blood vessels and nerves, restoring the use of damaged limbs and can also re-attach severed limbs.
What factors affected surgery?
- Science and Technology.
- Government.
- War.
When were X-Ray’s first discovered?
- 20 years before the First World War.
- Hospitals installed X-Ray machines, but it was the First World War which confirmed their importance.
What effect did the First World War have on the manufacturing of X-Rays?
-More were manufactured to meet demand and they were installed in hospitals along the Western Front.
What impact did X-Rays have on surgery in the 1900s and in the First World War (WW1)?
-X-Rays immediately improved the success rate of surgeons in removing deeply lodged bullets and shrapnel which would otherwise have caused fatal infections.
What impacts did the Second World War have on surgery in the 1900s?
- Blood transfusion - blood could be stored for longer, civilians donated blood.
- Drugs - penicillin was developed as the first antibiotic.
- Surgery - developments in the use of skin grafts and treatments of burns.
