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History to 1798

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Book cover The Wondrous Story of Anesthesia

Summary

Surgeons in ancient times undertook diverse operations, usually at great speed to diminish the duration of suffering. Skulls from 5,000 BCE show trephination, the removal of a piece of bone from the head. Egyptians in 3,600 BCE performed circumcisions and tracheotomies. In 1700 BCE, Babylonians excised tumors. Egyptians cauterized breast tumors and excised peripheral aneurysms. The Roman surgeon, Galen, in the second Century CE, treated cataracts to restore sight, and he cut out the uvula to cure chronic coughing. Surgeons in Europe might be physicians, monks or barbers who in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries wrote books on surgery. They gained recognition by their study of the anatomy of cadavers. Thus, in 1543 Vesalius published “On the Fabric of the Human Body”, demolishing centuries of errors, and opening the door to the performance of accurate surgery.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In the second century CE, Galen treated cataracts to restore sight and cut out the uvula to cure the chronic cough.

  2. 2.

    Ironically, Hunter had angina pectoris, presciently noting that “my life is in the hands of any rascal who chooses to annoy and tease me.” A fatal heart attack at age 65 followed an argument at St. Georges Hospital on 14 October 1793. Pott described the anatomy of congenital inguinal hernias in his “Treatise on Ruptures.” He advocated emergent operations for incarcerated hernias. Most famous was his 1775 Chirurgical Observations, a 5-page essay correctly connecting scrotal cancer in chimney sweeps to their exposure to tars.

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Acknowledgment

The authors appreciate the editorial suggestions made by Ms. Shawnee Shahroody Spitler.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Edmond I Eger II MD

  2. Departments of Anesthesia, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Lawrence J. Saidman MD

  3. Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Rod N. Westhorpe OAM, MB, BS, FRCA, FANZCA

Authors
  1. Edmond I Eger II MD
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  2. Lawrence J. Saidman MD
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  3. Rod N. Westhorpe OAM, MB, BS, FRCA, FANZCA
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Edmond I Eger II MD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Edmond I Eger II MD Emeritus Professor

  2. Departments of Anesthesia, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Lawrence J. Saidman MD Emeritus Professor

  3. Geoffrey Kaye Museum of Anaesthetic History, Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Rod N. Westhorpe OAM, MB, BS FRCA, FANZCA Former Honorary Curator

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© 2014 Edmond I Eger, MD

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Eger, E., Saidman, L., Westhorpe, R. (2014). History to 1798. In: Eger II, E., Saidman, L., Westhorpe, R. (eds) The Wondrous Story of Anesthesia. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8441-7_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8441-7_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-8440-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-8441-7

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