Tag: surgical anesthesia
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The “Ether Controversy”
JMS Pearce Hull, England, UK Fig 1. Warren and Morton’s operation in the Ether Dome, restaged with Mass General physicians assuming the roles of the original participants. Warren Zapol, MD, chief of anesthesia and critical care, starred as Dr. Morton, while Philip Kistler, MD, director of the Mass General stroke unit, played Dr. Warren.…
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Banishing that dread of being cut
Samuel Spencer Reading, Berkshire, UK An unconscious naked man lying on a table being attacked by little demons armed with surgical instruments, watercolous by R. Cooper. In 1863, Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was returning to camp after routing Federal armies at Chancellorsville, when he was mistaken for a Union cavalryman by his own…
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Anesthesia: culture, technology, and the rise of the surgeon
Suzanne Raga New Jersey, USA A depiction of eye surgery c. 1195 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…