Anaesthesia and cardiopulmonary bypass: an historical review

Indian Journal of Clinical Anaesthesia (IJCA) publishes definitive, peer-reviewed articles devoted to the clinical practice of anaesthesia. IJCA publishes a wide range of articles in the discipline of anaesthesiology including basic science, translational medicine, education, and clinical research to create a platform for the authors to make their contribution towards the field without restrictions/barriers of subscription and language. IJCA addresses all aspects of anaesthesia practice, including anaesthetic administration, pharmacokinetics, preoperative and postoperative considerations, coexisting disease and other complicating factors, cost issues, and similar concerns anaesthesiologists contend with daily. Exceptionally high standards of presentation and accuracy are maintained. This Journal is an Open Access journal and aims to publish research articles, reviews, case studies, commentaries, short communications, and letters to the editor on various aspects of anaesthesiology and perioperative medicine and making them freely available worldwide.

2020

According to the definition of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP), pain is defined as: "Unpleasant subjective feeling and emotional experience associated with current or potential tissue damage of a particular localisation", which, as such, poses a challenge for epidemiological research to determine its frequency and prevalence. We have all heard the motto that surgery has experienced its unprecedented development on the wings of anaesthesia. This is most certainly the case, since it is precisely the pain that prevents any invasive procedure on the human body, hence the very elimination of pain has opened up the way for the application and development of surgery. For this reason, the skill and now the science of anaesthesia are epochal civilizational achievements, which is why it is worth remembering the attempts and successes of its application. The very beginning of mankind cannot be imagined without the humans facing some sort of pain. As long ag...

Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology, 2012

Purpose of review Anesthesia for ambulatory surgery has come a long way since 1842 when James Venable underwent surgery for removal of a neck mass with Crawford W. Long administering ether and also being the surgeon. We examine major advances over the past century and a half. Recent findings The development of anesthesia as a medical specialty is perhaps the single most important improvement that has enabled advances in the surgical specialties. Moreover, improved equipment, monitoring, training, evaluation of patients, discovery of better anesthetic agents, pain control, and the evolution of perioperative care are the main reasons why ambulatory anesthesia remains so safe in modern times. The development of less invasive surgical techniques, economic factors, and patient preferences provided addition impetus to the popularity of ambulatory surgery. Summary Beyond the discovery in the mid-19th century that ether and nitrous oxide could be used to render patients unconscious during surgical procedures, subsequent developments in our specialty have added modestly, in a stepwise manner, to reduce mortality and morbidity associated with its use. These improvements have allowed us to safely meet the steadily increasing demand for ambulatory surgery.

The anesthesiology profession may one day serve as a cautionary tale of how power, politics and privilege can perturb science and progress. Previous anesthesia practitioners possessed a superior understanding of physiology and pharmacology, but overenthusiastic CO2 supplementation with inadequate monitors and machines caused asphyxiation disasters that were improperly attributed to CO2 toxicity. Dr. Ralph Waters founded the anesthesiology profession on the basis of a practical new anesthetic tech- nique that introduced elective intubation and hyperventilation to eliminate CO2 toxicity, but mechanical hyperventilation dangerously depletes CO2 tissue reserves and exag- gerates morbidity and mortality. The bene ts of CO2 supplementation were forgotten, and consequent CO2 confusion has derailed research, discouraged opioid treatment, damaged patient safety, and disrupted professional progress. Anesthesiologists can no longer claim to provide superior service, and hospital administrators are replacing them with nurses. Professional membership is in decline, and professional survival is in ques- tion. Modern machines have eliminated asphyxiation, and modern monitoring enables safe and bene cial hypercarbia that complements opioid treatment and minimizes sur- gical morbidity and mortality. CO2 reform promises revolutionary advance but faces formidable opposition.

Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 2011

In this report, we explore the little known role of Dr Nathan Cooley Keep in the dissemination of ether anesthesia in Boston. Keep was a prominent Boston dentist who, for a short time, taught and employed both William Morton and Horace Wells. He used ether anesthesia for a variety of dental and other surgical procedures requiring pain control. Keep administered ether to anesthetize Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's wife during the delivery of their daughter. This was the first use of ether for obstetric anesthesia. Dr Keep was also the first Dean of the Harvard Dental School and convinced the Massachusetts General Hospital to appoint a dentist to the staff of the hospital for the first time.

Canadian Journal of Anaesthesia, 1993

Anaesthesia, 2003

Revista de la Federación Odontológica Ecuatoriana

have been accorded varying degrees of credit for the discovery and introduction of anesthesia. I shall set forth briefly and objectively the part played by each so that the reader may judge the merits of each. Early Pioneers of conversation among Borlase and his associates, to all of which young Davy was an attentive listener. His interest was particularly aroused by the discussions of nitrous oxide which had been branded as dangerous by the American chemist and physician, Dr. Lantham Mitchell. The element of mystery and danger surrounding the gas intrigued Davy, and he began experimenting with it secretly. He first discovered that nitrous oxide induced a feeling of Humphrey Davy well being and cheerfulness which Humphrey Davy, at seventeen increased untilhe became convulsed years of age, became apprenticed with laughter. Hence the origin of to John Bingham Borlase, a promthe term "laughing gas." inent surgeon of Penzance. At this Davy's experimental work on time many newly discovered gases gases was brought to the attention were being used in medicine for the of Dr. Beddoes, head of the Pneutreatment of diseases and hence matic Institute of Clifton, who furnished the most frequent topicSpromptly offered him the post of