Surgery

Question 1

What were the problems with surgery in 1845?

Answer 1

Pain
Infection
Blood loss

Question 2

What would patients do before a surgery, before any pain relief was found?

Answer 2

Drink whiskey

• Slightly numb pain
• -> But thinned blood

Question 3

When did Humphry Davy make his discovery about nitrous oxide?

Answer 3

1799

Question 4

What did Humphry Davy discover about nitrous oxide?

Answer 4

That it made a patient less aware of their pain

Question 5

What were the advantages and disadvantages of nitrous oxide as a method for pain relief?

Answer 5

Advantages:
Reduced pain

Disadvantages:
Didn’t knock a patient- Still felt pain

Question 6

Who made the discovery of nitrous oxide as a pain relief?

Answer 6

Humphry Davy

-English scientist

Question 7

When did William Morton make his discovery about ether?

Answer 7

1846

Question 8

Who made the discovery of ether as a method of pain relief?

Answer 8

William Morton

-American dentist

Question 9

What were the advantages and disadvantages of ether as a method of pain relief?

Answer 9

Advantages:
Better relief than nitrous oxide
Allowed for advancements in surgery

Disadvantages:
Didn't knock a person out
Highly flammable
-issue w/ use of candles etc.
Could make patients cough or vomit
Couldn't control deep sleep it brought on
-could last for days

Question 10

Who made the discovery of chloroform as a method for pain relief?

Answer 10

James Simpson
-Prof. of Midwifery at Edinburgh
(Tested chemicals by sniffing them w/ assistants)

Question 11

When did James Simpson make his discovery about the use of chloroform as a method for pain relief?

Answer 11

1847

Question 12

What were the advantages and disadvantages of chloroform as a method for pain relief?

Answer 12

Advantages:
Extremely effective
-knocked patients out- unaware of pain
Allowed for deeper, more complex surgeries 
(esp. on abdomen)

Disadvantages:
Affected the heart
Correct dosages hard to figure out
-too little=still feel pain, too much=died

Question 13

Who developed an inhaler for chloroform?

When?

Answer 13

John Snow

1848

Question 14

What did the inhaler that John Snow developed for chloroform do?

Answer 14

Helped regulate dosages

-Reduced number of deaths

Question 15

What were the reasons for opposition to Simpson?

Answer 15

Dosage

Religion

Speed

Hannah Greener

Black Period of Surgery

Question 16

What was the reason of dosage for opposition to Simpson/chloroform?

Answer 16

Before inhaler- no one knew what dosages to give
Chloroform was untested
No one knew if there would be any long term effects

Question 17

What was the reason of religion for opposition to Simpson/chloroform?

Answer 17

Believed that pain was given by God
-meant to happen for higher reason
–> went against God’s will
(Pain of childbirth kept control over women?)

Question 18

What was the reason of speed for opposition to Simpson/chloroform?

Answer 18

Surgeons in early 1800s prided themselves on how quickly they could operate
–> Only way of reducing pain

Anaesthetics= No need for speed

Question 19

What was the reason of Hannah Greener for opposition to Simpson/chloroform?

Answer 19

1848- Hannah Greener died during an operation to remove her toenail
–> Had been given wrong dosage of chloroform

-First death of chloroform- scared surgeons

Question 20

When did Hannah Greener die during an operation to remove her toenail?

Answer 20

1848

Question 21

What was the Black Period of Surgery?

Answer 21

1847-1867
Anaesthetics allowed surgeons to do more complex surgeries
-More experimenting & investagatory work
Carried infection deeper into the body (& more blood loss)
–> Death rate increased

Question 22

When did the Black Period of Surgery end?

Answer 22

1847-1867

Between discoveries of anaesthetics and antiseptics