Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Hanaoka Seishū

  • Hanaoka Seishū, inventor of an early general anesthetic

    Kingston Bridges London, United Kingdom   Hanaoka performing the first operation with tsūsensan. University Hospital Medical Information Network Center. Since time immemorial, humans have sought to alleviate illness and suffering through surgical interventions. Amputations with improvised tools took place in the Upper Paleolithic period over 30,000 years ago, and skeletal evidence of trephining has been…