Joseph Lister and antiseptic surgery

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Joseph Lister and anti-septic surgery
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Opposition to Anaesthetic
Why did this happen?
Why did this cause some doctors to oppose the use
of anaesthetics?
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(No Transcript)
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End of opposition

• In 1853 Queen Victoria gave birth to her eighth
  child.
• James Simpson was one of her doctors and he used
  chloroform.
• Why did this help the use of anaesthetics?

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Problems still remained

• Ovariotomy (removal of diseased ovaries) was a
  very common operation tried under anaesthetics.
  Often the death rate was as high as 80. Why?

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• An operation was a dirty job and an old coat was
  a suitable garment. I see it now, all faded with
  age, stained with blood and spotted with pus.
• A rival to this was the ward sponge. It
  appeared at all dressings. It was simply wrung
  out in warm water and passed from case to case.

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Joseph Lister

• How did each of the following factors help him
  come up with the idea of anti-septic surgery
• Medicine
• Communication
• Individual
• Chemistry
• Industry?

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Antiseptic surgery

• Lister used his new knowledge to develop
  antiseptic surgery.
• Septic is when a wound gets infected and so
  antiseptic means against infection.

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The Lister Spray
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• Everything was soaked in a one in twenty
  solution of carbolic hands, instruments and
  patients skins. Moreover the whole scene of the
  operation or dressing was enveloped in a spray.
• Describe how Lister use carbolic acid using this
  and the picture of the spray.

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Results of using antiseptics

• Total Died died
• amputations
• 1864-66
• Without antis 35 16
  45.7
• 1867-69 40 6
  15.0
• With antis

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Opposition to antiseptic surgery
Time taken to do operations
Effects of carbolic acid
Doubts about germ theory
Difficulties in copying his methods
Lister
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The development of the nursing profession
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Robert Koch

• In 1878 Robert Koch identified the bacteria which
  caused septicaemia.
• Doctors now had to accept Listers methods.

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Aseptic surgery

• To ensure absolute cleanliness the following
  measures were introduced
• Operating theatres and hospitals were thoroughly
  cleaned.
• 1887 all instruments were steam sterilised.
• 1894 sterilised rubber gloves were used for the
  first time.
• By the late 1890s antiseptic(against germs)
  surgery had been replaced by aseptic(no germs)
  surgery.

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• Briefly describe the problems faced by surgeons
  at the beginning of the nineteenth century. (5)
• Explain why there was opposition to advances in
  surgery in the nineteenth century. (7)
• Was Lister more important than Simpson in the
  development of surgery? Explain your answer. (8)
• June 2005