Dangers in surgery in the 1800s
- Created by: darceylois24
- Created on: 13-06-16 14:46
View mindmap
- Dangers in surgery in the 1800s
- Pain
- Anaesthetics and other form of pain relief had not been discovered or invented meaning the pain experienced during surgeries would be excruciating
- Some people would die during surgery as a results of the pain and the initial shock
- Operations would be carried out as quickly as possible to reduce the pain suffered by the patient
- Many surgeons believed that if the patient was 'knocked out' there would be no resistance giving the surgeons more time to operate and improve techniques.
- Bleeding
- During surgery many people bled to death
- Tourniquets were used in order to try and prevent blood loss
- Many surgeons experimented with blood transfusions but it often failed
- Infection
- Surgeons did not take any precautions to protect open wounds from infection
- Doctors refused to use bandages, thus spreading skin infections from patient to patient
- Doctors did not wash their hands before an operation, nor did they sterilise their equipment meaning diseases could spread between patients easily
- Many patients that survived surgery, died due to infection
- Pain
Comments
No comments have yet been made