Surgery pre 1845 and Anaesthetics Flashcards
What does Amputation mean?
The cutting off of a limb
What is an anaesthetic?
A substance that affects your nervous system so that you are less aware of pain.
What is a tourniquet?
Something that is tied around a part of the body to put pressure on a blood vessel and stop the loss of blood.
What was the most common type of surgical procedure in the early 19th century?
Amputation
What were the problems with early operations?
Blood loss, pain, infection
What was used to ease pain in early operations?
Alcohol, opium
Why did operations need to be quick?
Because there were no anaesthetics!
When did Humphrey Davy discover Nitrous Oxide?
1799
What did Humphrey Davy discover?
That Nitrous Oxide made you less aware of pain
Laughing gas
What did Horace Wells do?
Used Nitrous Oxide to extract teeth in USA
When did Horace Wells do his experiments?
1844- 1845
Who discovered that Ether could be used as an anaesthetic?
William Morton
What were the main problems with using Ether?
Patients would vomit
It irritated the lungs which would make patients cough
Highly flammable
Patients in very deep sleep- could last for days
Carried in heavy bottles- difficult for surgeons to transport
How did James Simpson discover Chloroform could be used as an anaesthetic?
Inhaled various vapours with his friends to see if they could find a better anaesthetic than Ether
Who discovered Chloroform could be used as an anaesthetic?
James Simpson
When was Chloroform first used in an operation?
1847
Which public figure used Chloroform during the birth of her eighth child?
Queen Victoria
When did Queen Victoria use Chloroform?
1853
What was the name of the 14 year old patient who died from inhaling too much Chloroform?
Hannah Greener
What were the problems with Chloroform?
Young, fit patients were dying after inhaling too much of it
Who developed an inhaler to regulate doses of Chloroform?
John Snow
When was the inhaler for Chloroform invented?
1848
Why did some people oppose the introduction of anaesthetics?
Believed patients should feel pain as part of God’s plan (particularly women in child birth!)
Distrusted them as they were new and they did not fully understand their effects
Some doctors thought it would be easier for patients to die if they were not awake and struggling
Increase in death rates after anaesthetics were introduced
When was it discovered that cocaine could be used as a local anaesthetic?
1884
