Page 38 - English For Nursing

Read the following passage and do the following activities.
The History of Anesthesia

It’s natural to get anxious before a medical procedure or surgery. Even
something that doesn’t involve cutting your skin, like a colonoscopy, can induce

jitters as soon as the anesthesiologist hooks you up to a heart monitor. Now imagine
a time before anesthesiologists, IVs, and “happy gas.” Anesthesia may be a pretty well-oiled machine now, but
it hasn’t always been so slick. Consider how many procedures today require some type of numbing or “going
under,” and you’ll have an idea of how impactful the discovery of anesthesia was for the global population.
In the late 13th century, the Italian physician Theodoric Borgognoni was known for the “soporific
sponge,” which was a sponge soaked in a special recipe containing ingredients like opium, mulberry juice, and

ivy, according to the medical historian Fielding Hudson Garrison. The sponge would then be held under the
patient’s nose and inhaled to induce sleep. Another common strategy was “mesmerizing.” This was a term used
to describe hypnosis used for pain relief in surgery. The first documented use of this was in the mid-18th century
by the Scottish physician James Esdaile.
The 1800s were a huge time in medicine. Many common diseases were discovered and defined,
techniques were developed, tools were invented, and sterilization practices were standardized. The invention of

modern anesthesia is no exception. A number of doctors and scientists had been experimenting with or studying
the potential of different substances that might be able to induce sleep for surgeries. In the 1840s, it was a dentist
who finally put it to practice publicly, according to medical historian Stephanie J. Snow, PhD. Horace Wells, a
dentist in Boston, saw an exhibition that demonstrated the “exhilarating” effects of nitrous oxide, which the
exhibition called “laughing gas”. He watched one participant inhale the gas and then run around so wildly that
he bruised his legs on benches and began to bleed.

Just a year later, another Boston dentist William T. G. Morton successfully demonstrated a painless
surgery using a liquid called ether. It was this public and charismatic demonstration that many say launched the
practice of anesthesia as it’s known today. While the 19th century was a time of discovery, the 20th was a time
of refinement. Previously, doctors like Morton would dip a rag in ether and cover the patient’s mouth to allow
them to inhale. After the 19th century, however, more elaborate equipment, such as masks and IVs (Intravenous
anesthetics), were developed to make anesthesia safer and more precise.

Today’s anesthesiologists use isoflurane, desflurane, and sevoflurane (first used in 1980, 1987, and 1990,
respectively). While these may be safer, more reliable, and better tolerated by the human body, they still owe
credit to the early anesthesiologists for attempting the “unachievable.” You could make a compelling argument
that anesthesia is *the* most impactful invention in health care. Sure, new and impressive surgeries may be
curing ailments and saving lives, but most wouldn’t be possible without anesthesia.
Adapted from: https://www.healthination.com/health/then-vs-now-anesthesia

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