Surgery before 1845 Flashcards
What were operations like before 1845?
Operations were a last resort. The patient would be awake and would feel every bit of pain. The patient would have to be held down, which would increase the chance of infection, as the doctors would be wearing their outside clothing. The patient would be moving around, therefore mistakes could be made and operations had to be done as quickly as possible. Operations would only be the most basic procedures like amputating limbs. There would be an audience of people watching the operation, usually trainee doctors, again increasing the risk of infection. The conditions in the operating theatre would be very dirty, the the tools used would not be cleaned between patients and doctors would not have washed their hands between operations.
How did doctors try to stop patients feeling pain during operations before anaesthetics?
- Give patients a bit of wood to bite on.
2. Give them alcohol to numb the pain.
Why was there such a high risk of infection during operations before 1845?
- Doctors wore their own everyday clothes.
- Doctors didn’t change clothing in between operations or wash their hands.
- Tools and utensils used during operations were not cleaned between operations.
- Patients were held down by people wearing their every day clothing, which would be covered in germs.
- The operating theatre was often full of people, all carrying germs.
How did doctors try to tackle blood loss before 1846?
- They applied a tourniquet around the area that was being operated on, to try and stop the blooding from flowing out of the wound.
- Sawdust was placed on the floor to stop the blood landing on the ground, but this didn’t help the patient!
How did doctors try to tackle infection before 1845?
They didn’t! The germ theory had not yet been discovered, so doctors weren’t not aware of what causes infections, or that much could be done about it. In fact, many saw it as a ‘badge of honour’ to wear their dirty, blood and pus covered clothes during surgery, as it showed others that they were experienced and had carried out many operations.
