Important People In Anesthesia History

November 01, 2021

Anesthesia is one of the greatest modern inventions that humanity has ever seen. Imagine going to surgery with nothing more than a glass of whiskey. I can't. It was not only unbearable pain, but Services Anesthesia there was also the possibility of death from the shock caused by the severe pain during a surgery.

Humans have used a variety of techniques to reduce pain during surgery for thousands of years. These include alcohol, opium and fumes from a cloth that has been soaked in anesthetic.

These are the most significant figures in the anesthesia history:

Joseph Priestley (1733-1804

Joseph Priestley, an English scientist (1733-1804), lived during the Age of Enlightenment when there was a lot of forward-thinking. He discovered nitrous oxide, which was one of his many contributions in science and other fields. Priestley did not explore the practical applications of this compound.

Humphry Davy (1791-1867)

Although Joseph Priestley was the first to discover nitrous oxide it was British chemist Humphry Davy that began to experiment with the effects of inhaling this chemical compound. He noticed how nitrous oxide made his laugh and gave it its nickname, laughing gas.

Horace Wells (1815-1848)

Davy's discoveries went largely unnoticed until Horace Wells, a dentist, took up the cause. The Connecticut dentist began to experiment with nitrous dioxide, and used it as an anesthetic in dental surgery. His public demonstration of the anesthetic caused a setback and his patient, who was not properly anesthetized, cried out in pain. Wells claimed that he also used the anesthetic to extract one of his own teeth and felt no pain.

Crawford Long (1815 - 1878)

Crawford Long, an American physician and pharmacist, was the first to use diethylether as an anesthetic. American pharmacist and physician Crawford Long used ether to remove a cancerous tumor from the neck of a patient on March 30, 1842.

Perhaps the most fascinating part of his story is the discovery of pain-inhibiting properties in ether by Long. It happened during one of many "ether frolics," in which socialites inhaled gases like sulphuricether to get the euphoric feeling. Long observed a participant fall seriously, but no side effects. Long began to investigate the ether's pain-numbing effects.

William Thomas Green Morton (1819-1868)

Although there have been other people who used ether before Morton, it was Morton who demonstrated inhaling ether as a surgical anesthetic. This was in 1846. Because Crawford Long and other doctors did not make their use of ether publicized, Morton was the first to use it as an anesthetic.