Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Development of treatment - industrial - Coggle Diagram
Development of treatment - industrial
CONTINUITY
Took a while for medical science to catch up with the ideas
Still no good understanding of how to remove germs
Herbal remedies continued to be popular
Prevention was most important
Government was more willing to take steps to prevent disease spreading
Anesthetics and antiseptic surgery
Anaesthetics
Early experiment with laughing gas proved quite successful for small operations such as pulling teeth
The chemical ether had been discovered and used in America, but it caused patients to vomit and the gas irritated the lungs, causing coughing. It was also very flammable, so was a dangerous chemical to keep around.
James Simpson discovered the benefits of chloroform. He gathered a group of friends together, inhaled the vapours of various chemicals, they sniffed chloroform, and passed out, which he concluded would make an excellent anaesthetic
Queen Victoria used chloroform during the birth of her son in 1853, which made it more popular
Simpson was knighted for his services to medicine, more surgery took place that was more complicated and lengthier
BUT… the dose had to be carefully controlled because it was easy to overdose and kill a patient
Cocaine was used as the first local anaesthetic in 1884. In 1905 a less addictive version – novocaine – was used as a general anaesthetic
Antiseptic surgery
Historically, due to a lack of understanding about germs, surgeons did not keep surroundings clean, would wear their most stained coat to show off experience
Instruments were not washed
It was common to survive surgery but die after due to sepsis
Joseph Lister studied infected wounds and concluded that flesh rotted. Compared results with Pasteur and concluded that perhaps microbes caused flesh to rot
In 1865 he operated on a patient with a broken leg, and added a bandage soaked in carbolic acid. The wound healed nicely
He published a series of steps to ensure that wounds did not become infected – sprayed carbolic acid in the air during surgery BUT… his ideas did not catch on quickly
IMPACT
Long term - attitudes began to change, surgery became safer and cleaner
By 1900 instruments were steam cleaned, operating theatres scrubbed spotless and rubber gloves/gowns introduced
Not all were willing to use carbolic acid - dried skin and left odd smell
death rate increased - seen as bad
Victorians believed it interfered with God's plan
Took time to accpet germ cuased infection