The History of Anesthesia

Anesthesia means "insensibility" in the Greek language. In past centuries, techniques abounded in attempting to dull the senses using some form of anesthesia. Opium administered to a patient before surgery lacked enough strength to diminish sensation, but marijuana, jimsonweed and belladonna helped somewhat to deaden the pain. Large amounts of alcohol risked a patient's life if vomiting occurred during the procedure. A knockout punch to the jaw caused a state of unconsciousness, but was a rudimentary way to attain pain-free surgery.

Ether and Chloroform

• Spanish chemist Raymundus Lullius discovered ether in 1275. By the mid-1500s, ether, a gas also known as "sweet vitriol," was found to produce a hypnotic effect when inhaled, maintains the Anesthesia Nursing and Medicine website. In 1794, British physicians used the substance to treat fevers, scurvy and respiratory conditions, among other ailments. American doctors administered ether in the treatment of pneumonia in 1805. And in 1847, Sir James Young Simpson, an obstetrician from Scotland, introduced chloroform as an anesthesia during childbirth, but the clear, unpredictable liquid caused risky side effects.

Dr. Crawford Long

• In the early 1800s, ether was the drug of choice for young people, who inhaled the fragrant substance to achieve a feeling of euphoria, according to Wichita Falls Medicine Magazine. Crawford W. Long, a physician and pharmacist, learned about ether while studying medicine in college. In 1842, Dr. Long removed a tumor from the neck of a patient who was under the effects of ether anesthesia. However, the successful and unprecedented use of anesthesia during surgery was not credited to Long because of his negligence in publishing the results until several years later.

Dr. Horace Wells

• In the mid-1800s, Dr. Horace Wells, a dentist from Hartford, Connecticut, concentrated his efforts on proving nitrous oxide, a gas discovered in 1777, to be an effective anesthesia. While Wells was under the influence of nitrous oxide, a colleague performed a tooth extraction on the doctor, who felt no pain during the procedure, states the Wichita Falls Medicine Magazine. Later, however, news spread quickly following the supposed failure of nitrous oxide during a tooth extraction demonstrated by Dr. Wells at a public event.

Dr. William Morton

• On Oct. 16, 1846, Dr. William Morton, a Boston dentist, administered ether to a patient before performing surgery. Breathing the vapors from an ether-saturated sponge placed beneath a specifically constructed glass inhaler, the patient remained unconscious throughout the procedure. However, Morton was unable to apply for a patent on the much-heralded anesthesia because of ether's centuries-old existence.

Discrepancies

• Drs. Long, Wells and Morton, and Harvard professor and physician Charles T. Jackson all claimed credit for discovering anesthesia. According to the Wichita Falls Medicine Magazine, Dr. Jackson, who was also a chemist, conferred with Wells about the attributes of nitrous oxide and ether. After Jackson convinced Morton that ether would work well as a surgical anesthetic, Morton chose ether over nitrous oxide for his successful pain-free operation in 1846. Jackson sought recognition for having provided Morton with the pertinent anesthesia information. Long, Wells, Morton and Jackson each spent years trying to prove that they were the first to discover the benefits of the use of anesthesia during surgery, one of the most important breakthroughs in medical history.