HOW DID SURGERY IMPROVE

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HOW DID SURGERY IMPROVE?

• ANAESTHETICS

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AIMS

• To investigate the problems of surgery in the
  nineteenth century.
• To understand how one of these problems was
  solved by anaesthetics.

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STARTER TASK

• Examine the sources showing an operation at the
  start of the nineteenth century.
• What problems or dangers can you identify?

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PAIN

• The most obvious problem was pain for the
  patient.
• Many people died from the pain or shock.
• Early methods to solve this included1. Speed of
  the surgeon.2. Alcohol.3. Biting on a piece of
  leather or wood.4. Physically restraining the
  patient.5. Herbal treatments.

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JAMES SIMPSON

• Laughing gas and ether had both been used as
  anaesthetics, but neither was good enough.
• In 1847 James Simpson discovered that chloroform
  could be used.
• He began using it with women in childbirth.
• Other surgeons began to follow his lead.
• Had a great breakthrough been made?

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OPPOSITION

• Many doctors were against chloroform.
• Too much could lead to death.
• It was a new gas would there be long-term side
  effects?
• Some people believed that the pain of childbirth
  was good for the woman it was a blessing from
  God.
• Anaesthetics meant longer and more complex
  operations would be tried could this lead to
  more deaths than before?

7
ACCEPTANCE

• The struggle for acceptance continued for ten
  years.
• In 1857 Queen Victoria used chloroform in the
  birth of her eighth child.
• Anaesthetics became a standard part of surgical
  practice.

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TASK

• Explain the role of the following in encouraging
  or opposing the development of anaesthetics
  religion, war, individual genius, Queen Victoria,
  chance, government.
• Use pages 135-136 for help.
• Answer on the handout.
• Extension rank the factors in order of
  importance.