Simpson and Lister

Question 1

What three main problems were still affecting 19th century surgery? (3)

Answer 1

1. Pain - herbal stuff like hemlock and opium were dangerous to dose
2. Infection - Germ Theory allowed progress to be made but it was small
3. Blood Loss - Pare’s ligatures helped but transfusions hadn’t been explored yet

Question 2

Who was James Simpson? (3)

Answer 2

1. 1847: discovered the anaesthetic properties of chloroform by chance
2. Used chloroform to ease the pain of childbirth
3. Development of anaesthetics meant doctors could perform larger and more complex surgeries

Question 3

Why was there opposition to chloroform? (2)

Answer 3

1. Surgeons didn’t know how to calculate dosages and still had a lack of understanding of germs which led to an increase in the mortality rate - Hannah Greener died during a toenail operation
2. Church believed the pain of childbirth was from God and should not be numbed

Question 4

How did chloroform become an accepted anaesthetic? (2)

Answer 4

1. John Snow developed a way to deliver safe dosages of chloroform through a mask
2. 1853: This was used by Queen Victoria during the birth of Prince Leopold

Question 5

What was used before Simpson? (2)

Answer 5

1. Doctors had to operate very quickly - Robert Liston was famous for being able to amputate a leg in 2 minutes
2. Nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and ether were used but they were ineffective as nitrous oxide was a fairground novelty and ether irritated the throat

Question 6

Who was Joseph Lister? (5)

Answer 6

1. Used Pasteur’s Germ Theory to find the link between bacteria and infection
2. 1865: Tested his carbolic acid method on Jamie Greenlees who had a broken leg and found that carbolic acid could be used to prevent infection
3. 1867: Published his work on the use of carbolic acid, developing a method of antiseptic surgery nicknamed Listerism
4. Cut the mortality rate from 50% to 15% by 1870
5. 1890: Provided the basis for aseptic surgery in Europe and North America

Question 7

Why was there opposition to Listerism? (2)

Answer 7

1. Doctors did not fully accept Germ Theory yet
2. The method was hard to use b/c the acid: made their hands dry up and crack, irritated their lungs and took a long time to prepare

Question 8

When was Listerism accepted? (2)

Answer 8

1. 1870: when he cut the mortality rate 50% to 15%

2. Led to increased confidence and surgeries increased tenfold onwards