From using epidural while giving birth, to consuming ‘laughing gas’ to make wisdom teeth removal easier; most of the world has used anesthesia at one point of their lives. Considering how commonly anesthesia is used nowadays, it’s hard to imagine that people once had to go through operations fully conscious in the early 1800s. The Civil War motivated the first step for common anesthesia practice. The types of anesthetics used, concerns for its safety, and the effect it made on the medical community are beyond imagination. Anesthesia would not have become a standard procedure if it were not for the war in 1861.
Before the wide usage of ether and chloroform, alcoholic drinks, such as whisky, were the main ways to numb a soldier’s senses while in surgery. However, alcohol was limited, and is seldom wasted on a soldier that is most likely dying. People had to tolerate the excruciating pain of amputation and extraction surgeries fully awake.
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Ether is a sweet-smelling, colorless liquid that has been widely used as a treatment for other diseases like scurvy, a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C. According to History.com, it wasn’t until 1842, when dentist William T.G. Morton demonstrated the usage of ether as an anesthetic on a patient who had a tumor on his jaw that needed to be removed that ether was officially published as an anesthetic. Over the years, ether became more favored as it allowed patients to stay awake, with very limited amount of dangers from overdosing. During the Civil War, it was used mostly in general hospitals where situations were not as urgent as it is a slow-acting drug. History.com also explains that ether is highly flammable, so the liquid is administered by vaporizing the liquid, and letting the patient inhale the gas. While it numbs the pain, patients are still conscious during the process of surgery.
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Chloroform on the other hand, was one of the first anesthetics to be able to make a patient unconscious. It is an odorless and colorless liquid which was unintentionally created when Dr. Samuel Guthrie, a chemist, tried to make cheap pesticide in 1831(History.com). Shauna Devine’s article “The Art of Practice and the Science of Medicine” notes that Sir James Young Simpson, a Scottish physician, and a group of scientists were looking for an anesthetic in 1847. As the research continued, the group received a sample of chloroform. Upon inhaling the chloroform, the scientists fell unconscious. This liquid with a low gas point and its fast reactions lead the researchers to the conclusion that chloroform was the anesthetic that they had been looking for. Devine also points out that the new anesthetic was used by civilians and at hospitals for childbirth and dental matters before the Civil War. Chloroform is administered by shaping a piece of cloth soaked with chloroform into a cone shape, and placed over the soldier’s mouth and nose. Based on Jocelyn Green’s article “Civil War Amputations and Anesthesia”, the patients then go through drunk-like symptoms followed with struggling, and lastly, unconsciousness. The Civil War made chloroform popular, and the fast-acting drug became extremely well-liked among the front lines operators of war since it offered a much easier time conducting the operation. The faster the operation could start, the more likely that a wounded soldier would live.
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Under-educated doctors became an issue and brought concern to the public during the war. According to Stanley. B. Burns MD, obtaining a medical degree during the 1850s was not difficult, a person simply had to study under a practicing doctor, or take a short course to be certified and available for consultation. Despite the low benchmark, the huge burst of demands for doctors during the Civil War did not allow any fussiness. Burns pointed out a large amount of doctors that joined the front lines had never participated in an operation, nor received proper teachings about surgery. While the blood and gore on the operation tables near the battlegrounds startled lots of doctors with limited experience, the large quantity of wounded soldiers provided the perfect opportunity for those amateur doctors to practice their techniques. The Civil War created many experienced doctors who were knowledgeable in amputations, infectious wounds, and common hospital diseases. Those doctors then contributed generously towards future studies on operation techniques and medicine after the war, constructing a prime environment for medical studies.
The discovery of ether and chloroform impacted the operation tables of the Civil War greatly. Before the appearance of anesthesia, six assistants had to restrain a soldier being operated on, and the wounded had to bear agonizing pain as untrained doctors hesitate while they amputate a limb. After ether and chloroform became standard operation table equipment, surgeons are allowed more time and precision with their patient’s injuries, who is conveniently numb and unconscious. Burns mentioned that more and more people chose to use anesthesia during surgery, with 134000 total recorded uses and limited deaths over the course of the civil war. The spread of anesthesia usage even spread to Europe, Queen Victoria used chloroform to aid give birth to her eighth child, Prince Leopold.
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The push from the Civil War for ether and chloroform was a great improvement for anesthetic studies. Without the experience gained from the war, modern anesthesia would have never developed to the way it is now. Although ether and chloroform are no longer used as medical anesthesia due to health reasons, the Civil War helped the 1860s to take a huge leap into modern anesthesia nonetheless. But perhaps no one would have expected a cheap pesticide to become the most known anesthesia and kidnapping equipment.
References:
Burns, S.B., MD. (2016). Surgery in the Civil War. PBS. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/mercy-street/uncover-history/behind-lens/surgery-civil-war/
Devine, S., PH.D. (2016, February 22). Chloroform and the American Civil War: The art of practice and the science of medicine. PBS. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/mercy-street/blogs/mercy-street-revealed/chloroform-and-the-american-civil-war-the-art-of-practice-and-the-science-of-medicine/
Green, J. (2013, April 6). Civil War amputations. Jocelyn-Green. Retrieved from http://www.jocelyngreen.com/2013/04/06/civil-war-amputations-and-anesthesia
History.com. (2010). Ether and chloroform. A+E Networks. Retrieved from www.history.com/topics/ether-and-chloroform
Burns, S.B., MD. (2016). Surgery in the Civil War. PBS. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/mercy-street/uncover-history/behind-lens/surgery-civil-war/
Devine, S., PH.D. (2016, February 22). Chloroform and the American Civil War: The art of practice and the science of medicine. PBS. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/mercy-street/blogs/mercy-street-revealed/chloroform-and-the-american-civil-war-the-art-of-practice-and-the-science-of-medicine/
Green, J. (2013, April 6). Civil War amputations. Jocelyn-Green. Retrieved from http://www.jocelyngreen.com/2013/04/06/civil-war-amputations-and-anesthesia
History.com. (2010). Ether and chloroform. A+E Networks. Retrieved from www.history.com/topics/ether-and-chloroform