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Essay history of surgery
Surgery before the common era
Surgery before the common era
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When you think of surgery, most of us get an image of being rolled into an operation room filled with surgeons and technicians. You are given anesthesia either by liquid injected into your veins or by gas that is administered through a mask placed over your mouth and nose. After the surgery is performed you wake up and after a few hours, you are allowed to go home. However, in the Victorian era surgery was different. Back then, it was not the same type of anesthesia. You were not wheeled into rooms with all kinds of machinery. In the Victorian era, surgeons were trained differently, the relationship between surgeons and physicians was not the same, surgery was practiced by different people, they were performed in different places, there were …show more content…
They provided the obvious service of performing surgeries which sometimes consisted of cutting the chest open, but they also reset broken bones and did pretty much everything physicians would or could not do (Joshi Doctors). However, at the beginning of the Victorian era, surgeons often did not perform surgery on important areas, such as the abdomen. A British surgeon, by the name of Sir John Erichsen, still believed that the abdomen, chest, and brain were inoperable in 1874 (Porter 230). This was because these areas were fairly essential to life and surgery was not the safest. With their technology or lack thereof, any operation done on a brain, chest, or abdomen was believed to be too risky. He actually believed that those would never be able to be operated upon, even though the abdomen began to be operated on no later than 8 years later. After 1850, surgeons no longer had to exclusively perform minor services such as lancing boils, but there could be more serious services, for example, Caesarian section (Porter 202). There were other surgeries such as appendectomies, or removal of the appendix, as well as cholecystectomies, or removal of the gallbladder, and surgeries on the small intestine that were all inaugurated during the Victorian era, mainly around 1882 (Porter 232). Still, with these advances, the more serious services had to be kept …show more content…
In those 64 years, surgeons made many discoveries that caused important advancements in the world of surgery. There were new ways of dealing with infection that also improved public health (Porter 110). These consisted of washing wounds with vinegar, wine, freshly voided urine, or boiled water, then cleaning the wound of foreign objects, then covered in a simple bandage meant it would heal without trouble (Magner 295). These ideas were discovered by Joseph Lister around 1865. Lister was the first to challenge the idea that infection of a wound was inevitable. He found that if a wound was covered in a clean lint dressing and soaked in linseed oil and carbolic then it would not get infected (Porter 231). This discovery was called antisepsis. However, his ideas were not widely accepted. In fact, many surgeons did not like the smell of carbolic, and other’s problems with this were the reason his teachings were not accepted by the American Surgical Association (Porter 231). Another example of the improvement of public health was handwashing. In earlier practices, surgeons did not wash their hands because it was not proven effective until after 1867, and would go from the morgue to laboring women which caused the infant and female mortality rates to increase (Williams). However, Lister also found handwashing helps prevent infection at the same time he discovered the wound dressing (Porter 231). So, during the Victorian era, hand
Popular television paint a glorified image of doctors removing the seriousness of medical procedures. In the non-fiction short story, “The First Appendectomy,” William Nolen primarily aims to persuade the reader that real surgery is full of stress and high stakes decisions rather than this unrealistic view portrayed by movies.
Modern technology has helped with the growth of many medical discoveries, but the original ideas all had to start from somewhere. One of the most famous surgeons in the medical world, Ambroise Pare is responsible for many of this generation’s practices. Ambroise Pare was born in 1510. He was a French surgeon, and later advanced to do his work as a royal surgeon for kings Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III. From there, he went on to become one of the most influential people in medical work this world has seen. Because of him, many are still able to learn and grow from his teachings. Ambroise Pare impacted many people and ideas of medicine because of the innovative ideas he shared, the lives he saved, and the legacy he left behind.
———. "A surgeon's code of behaviour and ethics, c. 1376." English Historical Documents. Accessed December 8, 2013. http://www.historystudycenter.com/search/displaySuitemPageImageItemById.do?UseMapping=SuitemPageImage&QueryName=suitem&ItemID=10648&resource=ehd&imageNumber=4&scale=100.
Alchin, Linda. “Elizabethan Medicine and Illnesses” www.elizabethan-era.org. UK. N.P. 16 May 2012 Web. 17 Jan 2014
The knowledge we have of surgery in the Civil war is filled with gruesome and haunting experiences soldiers had to face. The surgeons were the onsite hospital staff that carried a wooden case to perform their duties anywhere at any time. This specific case in the __ museum belonged to a gentleman named Dr. W.P. Gunnell who “was educated in the best school of Virginia and graduated in medicine from the University of Pennsylvania. When the war began he was on a visit in the North, and while trying to get back to his home in Virginia he was arrested, and, through discretion, was forced to become a surgeon in a Union army hospital. He served to the best of his ability until he had an opportunity to escape through the lines to the South, and then he enlisted as a surgeon in the Confederate army” (). He experienced both sides of serving in the hospital departments during the Civil War.
Medicine was very important to Elizabethan England and was used widely. It played a major part in the life expectancy of people and was widely studied. It was one of the most important sciences of that era and still is today.
Kamila mentions that most surgeons and doctors performed services without proper medical equipment like “clean water, bandages, antiseptics, or anesthesia” (Lemmon, 2011, p.
However, some aspects can be compared to today’s medicine. The apothecaries of the Elizabethan era can be compared to today’s pharmacists. The apothecary’s main role in the medical system was to provide drugs to the patient, much like a pharmacist (Patterson, White). Also, barbers can be compared to today’s nurses. The barbers were not allowed to perform certain medical procedures and their practices mainly consisted of only tooth-pulling and bloodletting (Patterson, White). In today’s time, nurses are allowed to do much more than draw blood and pull teeth, but are not allowed to perform as many procedures as a doctor. In addition, we still use natural substances as medication today. Then, “lung afflictions such as pneumonia and bronchitis were treated by liquorice and comfrey,” which is still used in bronchitis medicines that are used today (Patterson, White). Also, “stomach aches were treated with wormwood, mint, and balm,” which still holds true today, as many people chew mint gum when they have an upset stomach. Although the medical treatments and doctorate procedures were different from our present day beliefs, the Elizabethan era greatly influenced the medical
More medical discoveries and advances are occurring every day. Medical treatments and understanding of the human anatomy have come a long way. Though if it weren’t for certain Anatomists, we may have not have had the right comprehension of the human body which could have led to errors in surgery and more deaths while treating patients. The Renaissance period was a time where Anatomists searched for clearer understanding of the human body. During the Renaissance period, Anatomists questioning and experimentation led to great discoveries of the human body.
In 1865 before an operation, he cleansed a leg wound first with carbolic acid, and performed the surgery with sterilized (by heat) instruments. The wound healed, and the patient survived. Prior to surgery, the patient would need an amputation. However, by incorporating these antiseptic procedures in all of his surgeries, he decreased postoperative deaths. The use of antiseptics eventually helped reduce bacterial infection not only in surgery but also in childbirth and in the treatment of battle wounds.
Have you ever wondered how the world would be like if there wasn’t innovative people before our time? What would health care be like without the help of scientist and doctors who have gone before us? Sir John Simon was born in London on October 10th 1816, he was the sixth child out of fourteen. He was the son of Louis Michael Simon and Mathide Nonnet. Simon’s father was a shipbroker which brought the family some wealth. His father had served in the Committee of Stock Exchange from 1837-1868. When Simon was in grade school is, family had enough money to send him to excellent schools. During his adolescents, he attended Pentonville for seven and a half years. In 1833, Simon became an apprentice to Joseph Hennery Green, he was a surgeon at St. Thomas Hospital and a professor of surgery. This began his journey in healthcare and science.
Paget was the main surgeon to the Royal Family in England at that time. In 1877, Queen Victoria made him a 1st Baronet, and he was then known as Sir James Paget. In addition, he was known for his lectures and would divide his audience into those who knew of him and those who did not and adjusted his lectures accordingly. His most famous lectures were “Lectures on Tumors” and “Lectures on Surgical Pathology”. After all his discoveries and famous lectures, he then opened a hospital in London, England in 1888.
Surgery was invented in the stone age by a man named Sushruta. The Egyptians gained their knowledge about surgery through mummies, and then it turned into what it is today. The first surgery they drilled a tiny hole in the head for migraines and that lasted through the middle ages for a very long time. This kind
Surgery comes from Greek via Latin: meaning "hand work". Surgery is an ancient medical procedure that uses specific techniques on a patient to investigate and treat a small or severe condition such as disease or injury. Surgery can be used for different reasons; some might be to help improve body function or appearance, and some maybe for religious reasons. There are many types of surgeries (e.g. neuro, cardiac, plastic, oral, podiatric etc., etc.). Surgery originally started in France in the 16th century, but was very rarely used. This French surgery was also only preformed for minor uses. Surgery back then was very risky and only a few patients survived. Now you might be thinking, what kind of doctors were those idiots, but think again, does surgery only need a very highly educated surgeon? The simple answer is no. The reason or should I say the greatest reason was that of the tools.
The invention of machines occurred in the Egyptian city of Alexandria in the 3rd century BCE and had a profound effect on the practice of medicine “Berrey Alexandrian Physiology.” The invention of machines, such as valves, pumps, levers, and wedges influenced the way in which ancient physicians described and understood the body, in addition to providing new methods for treating conditions. Machines provided a means to treat previously untreatable conditions, served as a form of entertainment, and contributed to a separation of power between medical practitioners.