What is the difference between treating an arrow wound a century (or two) ago , and treating a bullet wound in modern times ?

Question

When I say modern times let’s say from the civil war until today.

What are the basis of the treatments ? and what were the advancments we made in medecine in the mean time for such treatments ?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Surgery is a whole different thing today than during the civil war primarily for two reasons

1. Sterilization – we understand the causes of infection and how to avoid it
2. Anesthetization – we can render a patient completely unconscious and numb so they remain still while their injuries are being sewn up then bring them back none the worse for wear afterward

In the civil war and before, a penetrating abdominal injury was pretty much a sentence to slow painful death. There was no possible way a person could have held still to be completely opened up and repaired. Even if they did, germs and bacteria would have been left inside the abdominal cavity to multiply and kill the patient anyway. Today both of those issues have been mostly solved.