Surgery

Problems in Early 19th Century Surgery

• Pain - no way to completely relieve pain, no pain killers, no effective anaesthetic: pain would cause patients to move and disturb the surgeon), no pain relief made speed the top priority which decreased safety and accuracy.
• Infection - germs could enter the wound through blood poisoning, no sterile equipment meant that the surgeon's tools and clothing carried germs, ligatures used to stop blood loss could carry infection.
• Blood Loss - no way to replace blood by transfusion, no knowledge of blood groups, blood loss could be stopped only by ligatures…