A revolution in surgery Flashcards
What is the acronym to remember what problems surgeons faced in the early 1800s ?
PILE:
P - Pain
I - Infections
L - Loss of blood
E - Environment
Why was pain a problem during surgery in the early 1800s ?
Surgeons did not have access to effective anaesthesia
Why was infection a problem during surgery in the early 1800s ?
They had no affective antiseptics to stop infection.
Why was the loss of blood a problem in surgery during the early 1800s ?
They did not have fast eats if stopping major bleeding.
Why was Environment a problem in surgery during the early
1800s ?
Operating theatres were very unclean
How was pain reduced in surgery before the work of James simpson ?
The only way to reduce pain was speed. The patient was tied down while the surgeon operated as fast as possible. This led to rushed operations and a lot of mistakes
What was discovered in the late 1700s and 1800s before the work of James Simpson ?
Scientists found that some chemicals could works as an anaesthetic and reduce pain
What was the first anaesthetic used before the work of Simpson ?
Laughing gas (nitrous oxide) was used but it did not make the patients completely unconscious.
What happened when laughing gas was used in a public demonstration ?
The patient was in agony
What anaesthetic was used in the 1840s ?
Ether
What were the disadvantages of Ether ?
Difficult to inhale, irritated the lungs (caused coughing and sickness) and could catch fire if exposed to a flame
What did Simpson develop ?
Simpson developed a better anaesthetic, called Chloroform
Why was Chloroform better than Ether ?
It was faster acting and gentler than ether
How did Simpson’s discovery spread ?
Simpson wrote articles about his discovery and other surgeons started to use chloroform during their operations, especially after the Queen Victoria praised it after she was given chloroform during the birth of her eighth child
How did chloroform help surgeons ?
They were able to carry out more complex operations.
Why was Simpsons discovery have a short term affect at all ?
Because there was opposition and longer operations meant an increase risk of infection and higher death rates
What was the long term affect of Simpson’s discovery ?
The effectiveness of Chloroform encouraged other or search for better anaesthetics. Other chemical were used which relaxed muscles. Local anaesthetics were developed which number pain in one specific area of the body
How was Infection high in surgery before the work of Joseph lister ?
Before the Germ theory, no one knew about what was causing infection. This led to dangerous practices by surgeons, such as reusing bandages and using unclean equipment. This spread infection and caused high death rates.
What encouraged Lister to look for ways to kill bacteria in a wound and how did he find his answer?
Pasteur’s germ theory encouraged lister to look for ways to kill bacteria in the wound. He saw how carbolic acid was used to treat sewage when it was used to fertilise the land (it killed the parasites that could infect cattle feeding on the land)
How did Lister prove that carbolic acid could stop infection developing in open wounds ?
Lister carried out experiments - applying carbolic acid to stop infection developing in open wounds and soaking bandages in carbolic acid. He found that the wounds healed and did not develop gangrene.
What results did Lister publish
in 1867 ?
In 1867, Lister published results which clearly showed the value of using carbolic acid during amputations - deaths rates were reduced from over 45 to 15 percent
When did Lister use carbolic acid when operating ?
Lister went on to use carbolic spray in every stage of an operation. He encouraged surgeons to wash their hand with carbolic acid spray befrke the operation , use carbolic spray to kill germs around the operating table and use ligatures socked in carbolic acid to tie up the blood vessels.
How did Lister overcome opposition and when were his idea’s widely accepted ?
Lister’s demonstrations and teaching (he trained students in Edinburgh and the London) helped to overcome it. By 1900, his ideas were widely accepted, which led to fealty rates starting to fall in surgery
What was Lister’s method, which killed germ on a wound called ?
Antiseptic surgery
