The history of anesthesia from antiquity to the present day

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Medicine changed a lot with the advent of general anesthesia in the 19th century. But how did doctors manage without anesthetics? It is known that in the II century, the Chinese surgeon Hua Tuo was the first to use anesthesia during operations, using a mixture of wine and some herbs, as well as acupuncture. What other methods of pain relief have existed in the past?

From poppy poppy tincture to lidocaine: the history of the development of anesthesiology (Sasapost, Egypt)

Imagine a scene of a doctor in the early 1800s or earlier operating on a patient. You will most likely think of skin surgery, amputation, or possibly removal of bladder stones, but nothing more. Then operations on the organs of the abdominal cavity, chest and skull were impossible.

A patient awaiting surgery in the ward is terrified. But surgery is the last resort to which the doctor is forced to resort, despite the severe suffering that the patient will experience, since then there was no anesthesia yet. Doctors could only give the patient a little wine or herbal drug.

Let's fast forward to a modern operating theater or dentist's office. You will definitely find pain relievers there. Medicine changed a lot with the advent of general anesthesia in the 19th century.

Today, any surgery is not performed without anesthesia. The patient is anesthetized mainly through inhalation of gases or intravenous injections of narcotic analgesics, and his condition is closely monitored by anesthesiologists. Analgesics promote muscle relaxation, relieve or prevent pain, loss of consciousness, and relieve anxiety. All of these effects can occur together or separately.

Below we will learn the history of anesthesiology and how medicine has done without anesthetics in the past.

Ancient civilizations used plants as anesthetics

Historical records indicate that medicinal plants were used as anesthetics in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Mesopotamia and India, including black henbane, opium poppy, mandrake and cannabis. Ancient Rome and the Inca Empire used a mixture of medicinal herbs mixed with wine.

In the 2nd century, the Chinese surgeon Hua Tuo was the first to use anesthesia during surgery. He used a mixture of wine and some herbs, as well as acupuncture.

In the 13th century, the Italian physician and bishop Theodoric Luca used sponges dipped in opium and mandrake for surgical operations. Incidentally, hashish and hemp were also widely used as pain relievers.

In 1540, German botanist and pharmacist Valerius Cordus mixed ethanol and sulfuric acid to produce diethyl ether. It is known that opium injections were widely used in Germany as an anesthetic, and nitrous oxide was used in England until the early 19th century.

Sulfur ether for anesthesia in surgical operations

In October 1846, American dentist William Morton painlessly removed a patient's tooth using ether as anesthesia. Ether is a colorless, flammable liquid with a rather pleasant odor. It turns into a gas that dulls the pain but leaves the patient conscious.

Morton learned about the power of sulfuric ether in 1844 at a lecture by the American chemist Charles Jackson, who argued that sulfuric ether makes a person pass out and makes him insensitive to pain. But Morton did not immediately start using sulfuric ether. Before exposing his patients to ether, he first tested its effect on himself and pets, and when he was convinced of the safety and reliability of the substance, he began to use it on his patients.

In 1848, the American physician Crawford Williamson Long published the results of an experiment using ether as anesthesia. He claimed to have used ether to remove a tumor from the neck of his patient, James M. Venable, in 1842.

Chloroform for pain relief during labor

In 1847, chloroform was introduced into widespread practice by Scottish physician James Simpson, who used it to relieve pain during childbirth. Chloroform is a colorless volatile liquid with an ethereal odor and sweet taste. It is used as an anesthetic during surgical operations. Chloroform is dripped onto a sponge or cloth that is put on the patient's face. It inhales chloroform vapors, and its anesthetic effect extends to the central nervous system.

Many researchers used to synthesize chloroform for medicinal purposes. In 1830, a German chemist from Frankfurt an der Oder obtained chloroform by mixing chlorinated lime with ethanol. But he mistakenly decided that the resulting substance was chloric ether.

In 1831, American physician Samuel Guthrie performed the same chemical experiment. He also concluded that the resulting product was chloric ether. In addition, Guthrie noted the anesthetic properties of the substance obtained.

In 1834, the French chemist Jean-Baptiste Dumas determined the empirical formula for chloroform and named it. In 1842, Robert Mortimer Glover in London discovered the anesthetic properties of chloroform in laboratory animals.

Despite the risks, Queen Victoria used chloroform during childbirth

There are risks associated with the use of some anesthetics. Ether is highly flammable, and chloroform often causes heart attacks. Many deaths have been reported due to chloroform. Its use as an anesthetic requires serious medical skills to find the correct dosage. If the dose is small, the patient may wake up during the operation, but if the dose of chloroform is overdone, the patient will stop breathing due to paralysis of the respiratory center.

The above risks have prompted many patients to abandon chloroform anesthesia. Despite this, Queen Elizabeth I was twice anesthetized with chloroform. In 1853, Dr. Jon Snow used chloroform to relieve pain in Queen Victoria's labor when she was giving birth to Prince Leopold. And then again in 1857, when the Queen gave birth to Princess Beatrice.

Anesthesia appeared in the XIX-XX centuries

In 1889, Henry Doerr became the world's first professor of dentistry and anesthesiology at the Philadelphia College of Dental Surgery. In 1891, The Dental and Surgical Microcosm, the first scientific journal in anesthesiology, was published. And in 1893, the world's first society of anesthesiologists was created.

In 1898, German surgeon August Gustav Bier was the first to use cocaine spinal anesthesia, and 10 years later he was the first to use regional intravenous anesthesia.

In 1901, French doctors invented the technique of injecting anesthetic into the cerebrospinal fluid, also known as epidural anesthesia. It was first tested by American neuropathologist James Leonard Corning during an operation.

Advances in anesthesiology continued. The terms "anesthesiology" and "anesthesiologist" were first introduced into medical practice in 1902. In 1914, the first medical textbook on anesthesiology was published in the United States. In the same year, Dr. Dennis D. Jackson developed anesthetic equipment that absorbs carbon dioxide. It allowed patients to breathe out exhaled air containing the anesthetic and purge it of carbon dioxide, which helped them use less anesthetic.

Dr. Isabella Herb is the first president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). She helped develop safe and effective methods of administering anesthesia, including the use of an anesthetic screen to administer ethylene gas. Dr. Herb was the first to use ether-oxygen anesthesia during surgery performed by Dr. Arthur Dean Bevan in 1923.

Anesthesiology continued to develop. Lidocaine emerged as a local anesthetic and halothane, the first general anesthetic, as well as inhaled anesthetic gases including methoxyflurane, isoflurane, desflurane, and sevoflurane.