Ignaz Semmelweiss was a doctor who said 2any student or doctor coming from the post-mortem room must, before entering the maternity wards, wash his hand thoroughly in the basin of chlorinated water placed at the entrance" This was written in 1847, he was later fired from his position as his idea was regarded as 'crazy'. Although he was completely correct, he was not that important in the history of medicine as his ideas were never accepted until The Germ Theory proved him correct, as now washing our hands is part of our daily lives.
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Joseph Lister 1865
Joseph Lister used Fennol ( carbolic acid) to stop infection during surgery. He knew of this chemical compound as it was used in sewage to stop the disease causing miasmas reaching people. One of Lister's first experiments was on a seven year old boy who had a compound fracture. He used the Fennol to cover lint and make a bandage for the wound. 6 weeks later it successfully healed without infection. This confirmed that carbolic acid is an aseptic. Lister developed the use of carbolic acid by not just using it on bandaids but in theatre rooms, medial instruments were sprayed with it and every 15 minutes the whole entire operating room would be sprayed with the acid.
The acid burned, cracked and bled hands which was very painful
The amount of Fennol sprayed made a wet environment, disrupting and slowing down doctors in the procedure
The idea of microorganisms jumping around and multiplying whilst also invisible to the naked eye was viewed as a crazy idea to some. The miasma theory was much more believed in the 19th century, even by Florence Nightingale.
Spraying the acid increased time, and for most doctors more time meant more risk of death.
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Importance of Lister
Short-term
He lowered the death rate by 30%!
Fennol was the first ever antiseptic discovered
Long-term
ASEPTIC SURGERY >>>> Germ free surgery
Pares ligatures can now be used as infection was a lowered risk, which means that the remaining two issues with 19th century surgery had been solved! Revolutionised!
He made the link between dirt and disease
Led to the establishment of surgeon gowns, face masks and sterile gloves!
Hospitals were rigorously cleaned
Made surgery more expensive
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Connections
Louis Pasteur and Ambroise Pare were connected to Joseph Lister's work. Lister read a lot about Pasteurs germ theory which greatly influenced his work.Amroise Pares ligatures could finally be put to effective use because we had a solution for infection and now blood loss in consequence to his work. Many more amputations were carried out due to this, and about 6/40 died which is a phenomenal reduction from 20/40Question- Write a conclusion of who was more important James Simpson or Joseph Lister.
