How did people get surgeries done before anesthesia was invented? How were they able to stay still and not move around during the procedures?
There’s no way people could just grit their teeth and feel being cut, could they? The pain alone had to make people act out.
In: Biology
So, some things that are very old have anesthetic or analgesic effects. One of the more common ones would be alcohol, usually high concentration. Doubles as a disinfectant
A number of people in surgeries were required to hold down the patient and physically preventing them from moving. They would also often be tied down to the table. It was also important that the surgeon would work quickly. There were even competitions in performing surgeries as fast as possible with winning competitors completing within seconds.
Well, they couldn’t really stay still during surgeries without anesthesia.
In most cases, the patient was literally held down by a few strong guys, or tied down to the table for that matter. (Just imagine them struggle to hold on the pain-driven flopping patient).
At one point, they invented operating tables with metal buckles to keep patients from moving.
It was common to give the person getting the surgery considerable amounts of alcohol or drugs (opium, etc.), to ease the pain.
Also, sometimes they would give the patient something to bite on (leather belt, lead bullet).
The surgeon did his best to finish the procedure quickly.
Later, they eventually started using ether and chloroform untill the invention of the modern anesthesia
I’ve gotten 7 stitches no anaesthetic. It sucks. But it isn’t traumatic. It’s like being constantly and consistently, annoyingly, pinched all throughout the area and under of where the needle is threading. The yarn just reignites the weirdness. All in all, you can forget it, it sucks for like 5 mins, then it’s just injury pain.
Anyway All you really need is the person to be knocked out. (Which I also would’ve been fine with)
We have freezing for local wounds. Like stitches/staples. It’s just the best, least intrusive and reliable way to not feel a damn thing while getting shit done and not being detrimental to the rest of your body.
Before you might get really really drunk, then black out and get stitches or ask a buddy to punch you out then have a doctor (or buddy) quickly stitch you up.
Now If you had to be put under.. I’m not sure. I assume alcohol and blacking out would work great. Might be traumatic. Not sure
Keeping the patient held down, with restraints, or having people hold them down, or both. And going really fast.
The deadliest surgery in history had a 300% mortality. Basically in a bid to be as fast as possible, the surgeon accidentally cut off a finger of the assistant holding the patient down. As well as cutting the coat of a nearby spectator (because people do spectate surgeries in those days).
The patient and assistant both died of an infection, and the spectator died of a heart attack after mistakenly thinking they too were cut.
[deleted]
Had carpal tunnel surgery few years back. Calcification of the tendon was pretty bad so surgeon had to work a bit longer crunching it off. When he started to stitch me back up starting at the bottom of my palm the needle poke HURT. I said OW! he stopped and looked at me kinda aghast and said, you felt that?
Yessir! I told him. He thought for a second then said, well, I can give ya another 10 or so shots around the area to numb you up or you can just, uh, power thru another 12 sticks and we’ll be done. Well fuck. Ok just do it doc. That SUCKED. My arm was very tightly wrapped to a part of the operating table otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to not jerk away. I can’t imagine like getting your appendix out w no drugs. I wonder if a few ppl didnt just pass out from the pain.
They didn’t! Generally you were held down or strapped to the table, had something shoved in your mouth to bite down on, and then passed out or died part way through the procedure. Anesthesia was such a massive step towards successful surgery that it almost worked too well and doctors began prescribing surgery for *everything*, even when it did no good, as they still didn’t quite understand what caused secondary complications like infection.
Watch The Knick. Everything from surgerys to dental work by barbers. People died. A lot. And horribly. I know it’s just a show, but I’m pretty sure there was some historical fact to it.
Apart from people already explaining, give “The century of a surgeon” by Jurgen Thorvald a read! It’s a great book and would answer nearly all questions about the history of surgery itself!
Latest Answers