Preview

Joseph Lister's Fight Against Infection

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
685 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Joseph Lister's Fight Against Infection
Joseph Lister was more significant in the fight against infection in surgery than Ignaz Semmelweiss? Discuss.

Joseph Lister was one of the outstanding surgeons of the nineteenth century. He had research gangrene and infections and had a keen interest in the application of science to medicine. By using Pasteur’s germ theory, experimented with carbolic spray acid, which was used to treat sewage.

Joseph Lister is one of the pioneers of Infection Control. Not only did he reduce the incidence of wound infection by the introduction of antiseptic surgery using carbolic acid, but also he was the first to apply Pasteur's principles to humans. He showed that urine could be kept sterile after boiling in swan-necked flasks. He was the first person to isolate bacteria in pure culture using liquid cultures containing either Pasteur's solution of
…show more content…

His success rate for survival was very high. Lister then developed his idea further by devising a machine that pumped out a fine mist of carbolic acid into the air around an operation. Using this method, Lister drastically reduced death rates. Like Semmelweis, Lister had to fight to get his methods accepted. Unlike Semmelweis, Lister gained acceptance and recognition within his own lifetime. Some surgeons complained that carbolic spray cracked their hands, soaked the operation rooms and made the room smell unpleasant. On October 26 1877, Lister, for the first time, carried out the operation under antiseptic conditions. News of the operation was widely publicized arousing much opposition but its eventual success forced surgical opinion throughout the world to accept that his methods greatly added to the safety of operative surgery. Opposition was great In England and the United States mainly against Lister's germ theory rather than against his "carbolic treatment." People would often laugh at him but it was said the Lister didn’t pay any attention to there

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Mr. Gawande starts his literature on washing hands. He introduces two friends a microbiologist and an infectious disease specialist. Both work hard and diligently against the spread of diseases just like Semmelweis who is mentioned in the chapter. Something I learned, that not many realize, is that each year two million people acquire an infection while they are in the hospital. Mainly because the clinicians only wash their hands one-third to one-half as many times as they should. Semmelweis, mentioned earlier, concluded in 1847 that doctors themselves were to blame for childbed fever, which was the leading cause of maternal death in childbirth. The best solutions are apparently the sanitizing gels that have only recently caught on in the U.S. Then there was an initiative to make the sanitizing easier for all. The engineer Perreiah came up with solutions that gave the staff more time which was revolutionary in itself but the format worked only under his supervision. After he left it all went down the drain, so, Lloyd a surgeon who had helped Perreiah decided to do more research and was excited when he encountered the positive deviance idea, the idea of building on people’s capabilities instead of trying to change them. The idea worked and even got funding for ten more hospitals across the country. At the end of the chapter Dr.Gawande ponders upon the idea of how many he has infected because of his lack of cleansing.…

    • 2795 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chpt 24

    • 1216 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Pasteur’s theory that germs caused disease helped the advancement of medical sciences and led to the breakthrough of vaccines. Koch helped discover the organism that caused disease and it helped create vaccines. Lister helped develop the idea of cleaning wounds. All these contributions lead to progress in Europe.…

    • 1216 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Black Death Dbq

    • 1961 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Plague Doctors were un-aptly named as they were ordinary citizens trying to benefit financially from the pestilence. Guy de Chauliac was a celebrated doctor, one who didn’t flee, despite, according to Pagel (taken from Puschmann's "Handbook of the History of Medicine”) “ecclesiastical interest” funded his medical education. Perhaps the Church’s adamant focus on Galen meant Chauliac was eager to expand on Galen’s ideas rather than disprove them, thus avoiding confrontation. The fact that the Black Death actually produced “the most eminent surgeon of the European Middle Ages” (Encyclopaedia Britannica) seems a great achievement, despite the fact that competition was sparse and de Chauliac’s achievements relatively few. In his book commonly known as “Chirurgia Magna” written in 1363, he cites the difference between bubonic and pneumonic plagues, describes hernias and cataracts, and treatments for all. In fact, he did have many surviving patients during the pestilence due to his realisation that “laudible pus” was necessary in the healing process of buboes and wounds. Surgeons were outraged as cauterization, an aggressive procedure, had always been the correct method and that the wound was never allowed to heal naturally. However, in his works he not only references Galen but also Hippocrates, Abulcasis and Ibn Sina (Avicenna) he only expanded on surgical practice already specified by others. Consequently, his influence is narrowed, and what seems like an abundance of progress is less so. In the long term it is of little significance, therefore the Black Death is not a turning point in surgical…

    • 1961 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    His schooling had been minimal at a young age, in large part because of his poor health. In time, his chronic abdominal pains had been diagnosed as urinary stones. James’ father sent him to Philadelphia in the fall of 1812, to receive care from Dr. Philip Syng, later titled “The Father of American Surgery.”…

    • 2152 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Miss

    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Which of Sources D or E is more useful to the historian who is investigating surgical practice in the 1870s?…

    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The changes in medicine, and particularly epidemiology, that took place during the 19th century, concentrated in the latter half of the century, are often referred to as a revolution by medical historians. Here I consider whether these changes exemplify a Kuhnian revolution. To do this I first outline the characteristics of a Kuhnian revolution, I will then outline the changes in medical practice over the 19th century. I will then consider the change in epidemiology in light of Kuhn’s ideas and then an altered Kuhnian view put across by Gillies. Concluding that the proposed bacteriological revolution does not fit that of a characteristic Kuhnian revolution.…

    • 1676 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In present days, anesthesiology is a very complex, yet everyday practice for putting people under while they undergo a surgery. In the 1860s this practice had just been developed; therefore, the simplicity was very evident. The most common use of anesthesia was through the use of chloroform, which was used in 75% of all operations. A chloroform soaked cloth was held over a patient’s nose and mouth until the patient was unconscious. The surgeon would perform surgery with the patient still unconscious, and soon after the surgery the patient would regain consciousness. It was not as efficient as the way doctors now use anesthesiology, but it was still very efficient in regards to the time period and only had a mortality rate of 0.4%.…

    • 979 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Civil War Medicine History

    • 1518 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Several early hospitals were unsanitary and were a breeding ground for diseases such as dysentery, malaria, and typhoid. Doctors possessed a primitive knowledge of antiseptic and sterilization; it was exceedingly rare for them to be seen cleaning their tools. This practice often led to infectious wounds, which turned gangrenous. When a wound was gangrenous, as it often was, or a soldier’s limb needed to be saved, physicians turned to amputation, which was a quick and efficient treatment in the Civil War. Contrary to popular belief, chloroform was equipped as a form of anesthesia, and surgeons were known to complete operations in ten minutes, allotting them more time to treat other patients. (Paul, para. 7). All of these early forms of battlefield medicine have helped to shape the medical community in one way or another. Without the rudimentary medical practices displayed above, modern medicine could not have developed into what it is…

    • 1518 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Bio Quiz

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Pasteur- redefined the process of fermentation, proposed germ theory, discovered process of pasteurization (sterilization techniques)…

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Galen's Medical Theory

    • 1469 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Medicine in Ancient Greece was a prominent field that took a holistic and natural approach to life and dealing with its misfortunes. While many would consider the Greek physician Hippocrates, the “Father of Western Medicine,” however, it was Aulus Cornelius Celsus, a medically-trained Roman army veteran and encyclopaedist from whom we derive much of our modern medical knowledge. Before Greek influences, the ancient Romans lacked structured and qualified medical knowledge and facilities to aid in attending to wounds and injuries. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the ancient Romans, chiefly the Roman Army, had some of the finest medical and surgical techniques and methods until the turn of the 18th century.…

    • 1469 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Surgery in these days was not the same as it is today. Today there is a vast amount of research that goes into each particular surgery; in those days it was the complete opposite. Today we have sanitation procedures, while back then they did not know anything about sanitation! And the biggest difference in surgeries between the two time periods is the use of anesthesia. In the 1800’s the use of…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this essay I am going to discuss all three of the people mentioned above but I will also show you who I believe is the most influential and why I believe this. These people changed our medical knowledge forever and will always be remembered for this. Firstly there was Edward Jenner, he was born in 1749 and died in 1823, however in his 17 years he made one of the greatest discoveries in medical history. He had heard an old wives tale about milkmaids not contracting smallpox, which was a deadly disease killing thousands of people. He then believed that he should look into this and see if there was any truth in the story. He experimented on a little boy by injecting him with cowpox –something that only milkmaids caught- then with smallpox, when the boy didn’t become seriously ill with smallpox he knew that cowpox had made him immune to smallpox thus creating the first vaccination in the world. Secondly was Louis Pasteur, who was born in 1822 and died in 1895, was a French man that started as a chemist. Even though he was only a chemist he was hired by different companies, such as the wine industry, to investigate why some wine went sour while being made. This forced Pasteur to look down a microscope at the germs affecting it and he found something extremely revolutionary. People at this time still believe in miasma, which is where people believe that disease was caused by bad smells and that disease caused germ the other way around. Through Pasteur’s research he discovered that this was not true and that it was in fact germs that caused disease. Through his wine research he also found that if you heat up a mixture then you could kill the germs that were in the liquid. This process was the first of its kind and was even named after him; we know it today as pasteurisation. He also suggested that this should be used on surgical tools but he was unfortunately ignored. Along with everything mentioned above he also created vaccinations for chicken pox, cholera,…

    • 865 Words
    • 25 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Health Care Museum

    • 1262 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Hindle, K. S., & Hindle, S. J. (2001). A history of surgery. Royal Society of Medicine (Great Britain).Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 94(8), 423. Retrieved from http://search.pr…

    • 1262 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Outnumbered by the alarming number of soldiers sent to their care, physicians had little time to react, let alone maintain sanitary conditions if they were to save as many lives as possible. A competent surgeon could amputate within 10 minutes, leaving behind a pile of limbs with little time to even consider washing their hands or surgical instruments.15 Bandages were often reused, and sanitation seemed to never be considered, however some physicians refused to reuse bandages because they believed it disrupted the healing process.16 These physicians had the right idea, nevertheless it wouldn’t be until 1865 that Joseph Lister would begin to investigate antiseptic surgery.17 Like Lister, other physicians began to note that disease was something that could be eliminated or destroyed, and thus were soon advised to clean wounds and apply remedies as soon as soldiers showed signs of disease.18 Some physicians discovered the use of bromine as a sanitizing agent. William Hammond found that bromine “prevented sloughing”19 after amputations; Middleton Goldsmith placed bottles of bromine in each of the wards, and noted that “within 24 hours [he] saw a marked change for the better in all the patients since not one had died in the barracks from this disease except the one who was in the last stages of…

    • 1166 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    James Hutton was born in Edinburgh on June 3, 1726 as one of five children of a merchant who was also Edinburgh City Treasurer, but died when James was very young. He attended school at the Edinburgh High School, where he was particularly interested in mathematics and chemistry. At the age of 14, he attended the University of Edinburgh as a “student of humanity”. He was an intern to a lawyer at the age of 17, but took more of an interest in chemical experiments than legal work. At the age of 18, he became a doctor’s assistant and attended lectures of medicine at the University of Edinburgh. Three years later, he studied medicine in Paris, and in 1749, he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine at Leyden with a thesis on blood circulation. Around 1747, he had a son by a woman named Miss Edington, and other than giving the boy financial assistance, he had little to do with him. The boy went on to become a post office clerk in London.…

    • 2157 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics