Surgery: Phase 1 What was surgery like in 1850? Flashcards
How did doctors train in the mid-19th Century?
In the mid-1840s, the medical training course for a doctor took 4 years. It included lectures on illness and treatment, practical experience in a hospital, and practical experience of midwifery and surgery.
Why was surgery so dangerous in the mid-19th Century?
- Blood loss was a problem so a tourniquet would be used to reduce the flow of blood.
- There was no way of completely relieving the pain - the only type of of pain relief was alcohol, opium, or being knocked unconscious. In most operations the patient was away, held down by the surgeon’s assistants and usually screaming. By the 1840s there were only 3 operations which surgeons could carry out with some success
1. Amputation of limbs
2. Trephining
3. Removal of superficial tumours.
All were carried out quickly and pain was ignored. As medical knowledge advanced, many surgeons believed that if the patient could be ‘knocked out’ then this would give them more time to operate and refine their techniques.
What had Sir Humphry Davy discovered in 1799?
Laughing gas. In the 1840s dentists began to use it for tooth extractions.
Why was infection such a danger?
Germs might enter the wound and cause poisoning.
Many operations were carried out in the patients home, which was not hygienic - although conditions in hospitals were often far worse.
There was little understanding of infection and the surgeon would wear old clothes stained with pus and blood.
The surgeon might wash his hands and equipment might be wiped clean but there was no knowledge of sterilisation.
Bandages were rinsed and reused and the operation would be full of people: the surgeon, his assistance, medical students and wealthy donors.
Who amputated 200 limbs in 24 hours?
Napoleon’s surgeon at the Battle of Borodino in 1812
How did speed go wrong for one surgeon?
Robert Liston once amputated a leg in two and a half minutes but woked so fast that he accidentally cut off his patients testicles as well as his assistants fingers. Both the assistant and patient then died of infection.
Someone had earlier died during this surgery of a heart attack. It’s the only surgery with a 300% mortality rate.
How many patients with leg amputations died?
Almost half
