Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Scientists Anesthesia
Scientists Anesthesia
Narendra Kumar
Postgraduate in Anesthesia
GGH, Guntur
SCIENTISTS IN ANAESTHESIA
AUGUST KARL GUSTAV BIER (1861 – 1949 )
❖ German Surgeon
❖ First to perform SPINAL ANESTHESIA & IVRA
❖ Early Medical Career :
- Began his medical education at Berlin 1881
- Transferred to Leipzig University in 1882
- Transferred to University of Kiel 1883
- After receiving medical degree he worked as General Practitioner
- After Professorships in Greifswald and Bonn, Bier was appointed Chief
Surgeon and Geheimrat Professor of Surgery at the Charite’ –
Universitatsmedizin.
❖ Spinal Anesthesia :
- On 16th August 1898,Bier performed the first operation under spinal
anesthesia at the Royal Surgical Hospital of the University of Kiel
- Patient was scheduled to undergo segmental resection of his left ankle
which was severly infected tuberculosis but he refused to have general
anesthesia because he had suffered severe adverse side-effects in his
previous surgeries
- Bier suggested “Cocainization” of the SpinalCord as an alternative to
General Anesthesia
- Bier Injected 15 mg of Cocaine intrathecally which was sufficient to
perform the operation
- Bier along with his Assistant August Hildebrandt received Spinal
Anesthesia and experimented individually on them
❖ IVRA :
- In 1908 Bier pioneered the use of Intravenous Regional Anesthesia a
technique which is commonly referred to as “Bier Block”
❖ Bier is also considered to be a pioneer in the field of “Sports Medicine”
❖ Along with Arthur Mallwitz , Bier organized the first lectures in Sports Medicine at the
University of Berlin in 1919
❖ Awards :
- Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of The University of Edinburgh in 1910
- The Title of Geheimrat
- In 1936 , Bier received the Eagle Shield of The German Reich
- In 1938 , German National Prize for Art & Science an award created by
Adolf Hitler as a replacement for Nobel Prize
❖ Died on 12 March 1949 ,Sauen , Brandenburg , Germany
th
SIR IVAN WHITESIDE MAGILL ( 1888 – 1986 )
❖ English Physician
❖ A leader in the development of anesthesia and medical hygiene
❖ He is considered one of the founders of modern Epidiomology, because of his work in tracing the
source of a Cholera Outbreak in Soho, London in 1854.
❖ Early Life & Education:
➢ Born on 15th March 1813, York , United Kingdom to William & Frances Snow
➢ Snow demonstrated an aptitude for mathematics. In 1827, when he was 14, he obtained a
medical apprenticeship with William Hardcastle in the area of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
➢ In 1832, during his time as a surgeon-apothecary apprentice, he encountered a cholera
epidemic for the first time in Killingworth, a coal-mining village. Snow treated many victims of
the disease and thus gained experience.
➢ In October 1836 he enrolled at the Hunterian school of medicine on Great Windmill Street,
London.
❖ Career :
➢ In the 1830s, Snow's colleague at the Newcastle Infirmary was surgeon Thomas Michael
Greenhow. The surgeons worked together conducting research on England's cholera epidemics,
both continuing to do so for many years
➢ In 1837, Snow began working at the Westminster Hospital. Admitted as a member of the Royal
College of Surgeons of England on 2 May 1838, he graduated from the University of London in
December 1844 and was admitted to the Royal College of Physicians in 1850.
➢ Snow was a founding member of the Epidemiological Society of London which was formed in
May 1850 in response to the cholera outbreak of 1849
❖ Anesthesia :
➢ One of the first physicians to study and calculate dosages for the use of ether and chloroform as
surgical anaesthetics, allowing patients to undergo surgical and obstetric procedures without
the distress and pain they would otherwise experience
➢ He designed the apparatus to safely administer ether to the patients and also designed a mask
to administer chloroform.
➢ He personally administered chloroform to Queen Victoria when she gave birth to the last two of
her nine children
➢ Snow published an article on ether in 1847 entitled On the Inhalation of the Vapor of Ether
➢ He was especially interested in patients with respiratory diseases and tested his hypothesis
through animal studies.
➢ In 1841, he wrote, On Asphyxiation, and on the Resuscitation of Still-Born Children, which is an
article that discusses his discoveries on the physiology of neonatal respiration, oxygen
consumption and the effects of body temperature change.
➢ He identified the source of the outbreak as the public water pump on Broad Street
(now Broadwick Street)
❖ Personal Life :
➢ Snow became a vegetarian at the age of 17
➢ He embraced an ovo-lacto vegetarian diet by supplementing his vegetables with dairy products
and eggs.
➢ In the mid-1840s, his health deteriorated and he suffered a renal disorder which he attributed
to his vegan diet so he took up meat-eating and drinking wine. He continued drinking pure
water (via boiling) throughout his adult life. He never married.
➢ In 1830, Snow became a member of the temperance movement. In 1845, he became a member
of York Temperance Society. After his health declined it was only about 1845 that he consumed
a little wine to aid digestion
➢ Snow suffered a stroke while working in his London office on 10 June 1858. He was 45 years old
at the time.He never recovered, dying on 16 June 1858. He was buried in Brompton Cemetery.
❖ Legacy & Honours :
➢ A plaque commemorates Snow and his 1854 study in the place of the water pump on Broad
Street (now Broadwick Street). It shows a water pump with its handle removed. The spot where
the pump stood is covered with red granite.
➢ A public house nearby was named "The John Snow" in his honour.
➢ The John Snow Society is named in his honour, and the society regularly meets at The John
Snow pub. An annual Pumphandle Lecture is delivered each September by a leading authority in
contemporary public health.
➢ The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland awards The John Snow Award, a
bursary for undergraduate medical students undertaking research in the field of anaesthesia.
➢ In 1978 a public health research and consulting firm, John Snow, Inc, was founded.
➢ n 2001 the John Snow College was founded on the University of Durham's Queen's Campus
in Stockton-on-Tees.
➢ In 2009, the John Snow lecture theatre was opened by HRH The Princess Royal at the London
School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
WILLIAM THOMAS GREEN MORTON ( 1819 – 1868 )
❖ American Anaesthesiologist
❖ Initially started private practice focusing on Obstetrics later turned his attention of his
practice to Anaesthesia
ANESTHESIOLOGISTS
❖ Contributions :
❖ Medical Eponyms :
❖ He was educated at Rosall and Emmaneul College , Cambridge where he graduated M.A
❖ As a student he served in the Royal Navy until sent back to finish his Medical Course
❖ He was appointed anesthetist to LEEDS GENERAL INFIRMARY , St James Hospital and Leeds
Dental Hospital
❖ In 1955 , he received the Diploma in Anesthetics of the Conjoint Examining of England Board
❖ Contributions :
➢ 1931 – Published his first book on Anesthetics “ THE MODERN TREATMENT “ series
➢ Books :
Thermoregulation , Breathing
❖ In 1913 , his work with PAUL PORTIER on “ ANAPHYLAXIS “ won the Nobel Prize in Physiology
Or Medicine
❖ In 1919, Richet became honorary Chairman of the Institute Metapsychique International in Paris
❖ Richet was a proponent of EUGENICS , advocating Sterlization & Marriage Prohibition for those
❖ Worked as Junior Anaesthetist at Barts and was appointed as visiting consultant in 1903
❖ During World War -1 he worked with the Royal Army Medical Corps in London publishing over 3600
cases anesthetized with N2O-OXYYGEN-ETHER. His work was recognized with an OBE
❖ Boyle promoted Intratracheal insufflation techniques using N2O-O2-Ether replacing Open Drop
Anesthesia
❖ Initially he imported GWATHMEY MACHINES from USA but finding them unreliable he developed his
own machine
❖ He developed CONTINUOUS - FLOW MACHINES and the design including cylinders for the gases and a
❖ Anesthesia Mac hines until recently often referred to as “ BOYLES MACHINE “in honour of his
contribution
❖ Contributions :
1. BOYLES MACHINE
❖ Honours :
❖ Eponymously affiliated with the Mallampati Score used to predict the ease of Endotracheal
Intubation
❖ 1975 – Completed residency in Anaesthesiology at Lahey Clinic Foundation & Boston Hospital
,Massachussets , USA
❖ 1983 – Published a letter to the Editor in The Canadian Anesthetists Society Journal
❖ American surgeon and pharmacist best known for his first use of inhaled sulfuric ether as
an anesthetic
❖ Long was born in Danielsville,[3] Madison County, Georgia on November 1, 1815 to James and
Elizabeth Long
❖ By the age of fourteen he had graduated from the local academy and applied to the University
of Georgia in Athens
❖ In 1835, he received his A.M. degree.[6] He began his study at Transylvania College in the fall of
1836 in Lexington, Kentucky.[6] Here, Long was able to study under Benjamin Dudley, a revered
surgeon. He observed and participated in many surgeries and noted the effects of operating
without anesthesia
❖ Long transferred to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia after spending only a year at
Transylvania College, and was exposed to some of the most advanced medical technology of
the time.[6] He received his M.D. degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1839
❖ After observing the same physiological effects with diethyl ether ("ether") that Humphry
Davy had described for nitrous oxide in 1800, Long used ether for the first time on March 30,
1842, to remove a tumor from the neck of a patient, James M. Venable.[7] He administered
sulfuric ether on a towel and simply had the patient inhale.[8] He performed many other
surgeries using this technique during the next few years, introducing the technique to his
obstetrics practice as well
❖ Long subsequently removed a second tumor from Venable and used ether as an anesthetic in
amputations and childbirth. Despite his continued use of the ether anesthetic, Long did not
immediately publish his findings.[6] The results of these trials were eventually published in
1849 in The Southern Medical and Surgical Journal.[9] An original copy of this publication is held
in the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
❖ Crawford Long was a member of the Demosthenian Literary Society while a student at
the University of Georgia. Long was also a cousin of the western legend Doc Holliday, and may
have operated on Doc's cleft lip
❖ In 1849, Long announced his discovery in a small local magazine.
❖ In 1879, a year after Long's death, the National Eclectic Medical Association declared that he
was the official discoverer of anesthesia
❖ "Doctors Day" is celebrated on March 30 every year to commemorate Long's contributions.
❖ The University of Pennsylvania memorialized Crawford W. Long in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
April 1912, with a bulletin and bronze medallion
❖ Long was honored in the "Famous American Series" of postage stamps in 1940, and in 1978
with a postcard
❖ The Crawford W. Long Museum in downtown Jefferson, Georgia has been in operation since
1957.[23] A monument in honor of Long was unveiled in Jefferson on April 21, 1910
❖ A statue of Long stands in the crypt of the United States Capitol as one of the two designated
monuments to represent the state of Georgia in the National Statuary Hall Collection (the other
is his college roommate, Alexander Stephens).[14] Crawford Long Middle School, in Atlanta,
Georgia, was also named in his honor
❖ Long's childhood home was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 6,
1977. It is located on Crawford W. Long St. in Danielsville, Georgia.