Joseph lister
Now known as the 'Father of Antiseptic Surgery', Joseph Lister introduced sterile surgery. He was born in 1827 and died in 1912. He was present at the first-ever surgical procedure in 1846, and held a lifelong interest in surgery. He studied in London and became a fellow of The Royal College of Surgeons in 1852.
At the time, surgical procedures were done with no different clothes or precautions than one's normal clothes and unwashed hands. Patients would often get an infection after surgery, which could then lead to either amputation or death. Lister applied Pasteur's Germ Theory to surgery, which means he would disinfect the wound with chemicals, specifically carbolic acid. The dressings would be soaked in it and it would be sprayed around the area of incision. In a letter to Pasteur in February 1874 he writes, "Thanks for having, by your brilliant researches, proved to me the truth of the germ theory. You furnished me with the principle upon which alone the antiseptic system can be carried out." The rate of death after operation due to infection vastly decreased. Later he experimented with other forms of cleanliness and sterilization and discovered that with washed hands, sterilized instruments, and cleaner clothing. The infection rate still declined and soon after, these antiseptic techniques were adopted in many countries.
"Anyone trying to wire the broken pieces together without the antiseptic technique would be faced with an infected knee and hospital gangrene."
Lister's breakthrough changed how surgery is performed, and made it much more likely for a patient to survive after surgery in the 20th century. Although it is seen today as an obvious step to prevent infection, it was hard to accept for most people to grasp that transfer of invisible germs could kill someone. Still, the facts proved the theory and it was slowly but universally accepted. Joseph Lister changed how surgery was performed during the turn of the 20th century, and although it extends to the 21st century, it was a breakthrough during the turn of the 20th century.
At the time, surgical procedures were done with no different clothes or precautions than one's normal clothes and unwashed hands. Patients would often get an infection after surgery, which could then lead to either amputation or death. Lister applied Pasteur's Germ Theory to surgery, which means he would disinfect the wound with chemicals, specifically carbolic acid. The dressings would be soaked in it and it would be sprayed around the area of incision. In a letter to Pasteur in February 1874 he writes, "Thanks for having, by your brilliant researches, proved to me the truth of the germ theory. You furnished me with the principle upon which alone the antiseptic system can be carried out." The rate of death after operation due to infection vastly decreased. Later he experimented with other forms of cleanliness and sterilization and discovered that with washed hands, sterilized instruments, and cleaner clothing. The infection rate still declined and soon after, these antiseptic techniques were adopted in many countries.
"Anyone trying to wire the broken pieces together without the antiseptic technique would be faced with an infected knee and hospital gangrene."
Lister's breakthrough changed how surgery is performed, and made it much more likely for a patient to survive after surgery in the 20th century. Although it is seen today as an obvious step to prevent infection, it was hard to accept for most people to grasp that transfer of invisible germs could kill someone. Still, the facts proved the theory and it was slowly but universally accepted. Joseph Lister changed how surgery was performed during the turn of the 20th century, and although it extends to the 21st century, it was a breakthrough during the turn of the 20th century.