Ether frolics
BMJ 2013; 346 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f3861 (Published 13 June 2013) Cite this as: BMJ 2013;346:f3861All rapid responses
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M/s. Moore is wrong to attribute the first amputation under ether to William Scott in Dumfries on 19th December 1846. In my paper "Another look at Dumfries"[1] I examined the evidence surrounding this event and concluded that there was no lower limb amputation carried out on that date.
William Scott's claim to the first use of ether was made in a letter to the Lancet in 1872, but he did not give details of the operation either then or subsequently.[2]
Unfortunately the only corroboration of the event was by Sir James Y. Simpson in a lecture at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in March 1868 which was reported in the press at the time and later acknowledged in the collection of his works published by his son.[3]
References:
1. Martin LVH. Another look at Dumfries. Anaesthesia 2004; 59: 180-187.
2. Scott W. The exibition of ether as an anaesthetic. Lancet 1872: ii; 585.
3. Simpson WG. The works of Sir J.Y. Bt, II: Anaesthesia. Edinburgh: Black, 1871: 192.
Competing interests: No competing interests
Re: Ether frolics
The first well-documented surgery conducted under general anaesthesia performed in 1804 by a Japanese surgeon Hanaoka Seishu. Hanaoka worked for years to develop an combination of different plant extracts (including Datura and angelica) that when taken produced full general anaesthesia in two to four hours and lasted up to 24 hours. He tested his extracts on his wife who reportedly went blind from the side effects of some of the drugs. He performed over 150 mastectomies as well as many limb amputations under full anaesthesia and kept careful clinical records which were sadly lost in a fire.
Due to the isolation of Japan at that time his methods remained unknown for some time outside of Japan but he deserves more recognition for his pioneering of general anaesthesia. A novel based on his life "The Doctor's Wife" by Sawako Ariyoshi has been translated into English.
Paul Corwin
Sources-
Wikipedia
Competing interests: No competing interests