A village medical mystery
BMJ 2006; 333 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39048.667072.BE (Published 21 December 2006) Cite this as: BMJ 2006;333:1296
All rapid responses
Rapid responses are electronic comments to the editor. They enable our users to debate issues raised in articles published on bmj.com. A rapid response is first posted online. If you need the URL (web address) of an individual response, simply click on the response headline and copy the URL from the browser window. A proportion of responses will, after editing, be published online and in the print journal as letters, which are indexed in PubMed. Rapid responses are not indexed in PubMed and they are not journal articles. The BMJ reserves the right to remove responses which are being wilfully misrepresented as published articles or when it is brought to our attention that a response spreads misinformation.
From March 2022, the word limit for rapid responses will be 600 words not including references and author details. We will no longer post responses that exceed this limit.
The word limit for letters selected from posted responses remains 300 words.
While I greatly enjoyed reading the fascinating 'filler' by Roberts
(BMJ 2006; 333: 1296) I feel it is important to correct a few errors.
There is no evidence that Arcadia brought samples of ether for
distribution; it certainly brought letters describing the events in Boston
but evidence that ether itself was sent over would be spectacularly new.
Liston was informed of the use of ether after it was administered by
Robinson in Boott's house in Gower Street and he subsequently oversaw it's
use by the medical student Squire on 19 December 1846 for the amputation
of a leg. Simpson spent Christmas of 1846 at Liston's house and learnt of
the new process and went home to Edinburgh and used ether in his obstetric
practice. I do not believe there is evidence that he was sent ether from
America.
I believe that the first use of ether in Wales was on 13 January 1847 in
Swansea (Lewis JM. Early history of ether and chloroform anaesthesia from
Welsh newspapers Proceedings of the History of Anaesthesia Society 1989;
6a: 31-34)when Mr Henry Wiglesworth use ether to extract a tooth. The
first major operation under anaesthesia in Wales was probably in Wrexham
in early February of 1847 (an amputation) and this was followed by an
amputation of a leg in Swansea again by Wriglesworth on 19 February 1847.
By April 1847 ether had been used in Blaenavon, Abergavenny, Bala, Bangor,
Llanelli, Monmouth, and Llangfri.
The operation in Bethesda in May 1847 therefore while of great interest
cannot claim any precedence.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
A village medical mystery
EDITOR – Roberts claims that the cargo of the Acadia paddle steamer
included “gift packs” of ether addressed to surgeons at hospitals in
London and Edinburgh and at the Penrhyn Quarry Hospital, and that the
first operations on etherised patients in Britain were performed at these
hospitals. [Roberts JA. A village medical mystery. BMJ 2006; 333:1296]
However, the introduction of ether anaesthesia into Britain has been
meticulously documented [Ellis RH. The introduction of ether anaesthesia
into Great Britain. Anaesthesia 1976; 31: 766-77] and there is no evidence
to suggest that “gift packs” were sent to surgeons at these or any other
hospitals. Nor was either Edinburgh or Penrhyn among the first hospitals
in Britain to use ether. It was not used in Edinburgh until 9 January 1847
by which time it had been used in several hospitals outside London [Ellis
RH. Edinburgh threads in the tapestry of early British anaesthesia.
History of Anaesthesia Society Proceedings 1986; 6b: 56-66] and the
surgeon was probably Miller and not Simpson [Shepherd JA. Simpson and Syme
of Edinburgh. Edinburgh:E&S Livingstone, 1969: 83] as suggested by
Roberts. The first report of its use at Penrhyn Quarry Hospital was not
published until 17 April 1847, by which time it had already been used in
at least three other hospitals in north Wales.[Owen B. From Wrexham to
Rheims in 1847. History of Anaesthesia Society Proceedings 1994; 15: 37-
40] Historical articles should be submitted to the same rigorous process
of review which the BMJ applies to medical and scientific papers.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests