Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Anesthesia

  • What November may bring: The first 37 days of surgical anesthesia

    A.J. WrightBirmingham, Alabama, United States In medical history October 16 is known as “Ether Day” to commemorate dentist William Morton’s 1846 demonstration of ether inhalation for a surgical patient of Dr. John Collins Warren. The event is often described as the first public ether anesthetic because it took place before an audience of physicians and…

  • Anesthesia: Culture, technology, and the rise of the surgeon

    Suzanne RagaNew Jersey, USA The introduction of new technologies such as surgical anesthesia has led to better methods of diagnosis and treatment, but it also shows that the relationship between medical theory and practice is not always a smooth one. Surprisingly, anesthesia was first used for non-medical purposes, indicating that in medicine theory does not…