What did people do before anesthesia? | Sally Frampton

TED Health

TED

Health & Fitness, Fitness, Shoshana Ungerleider, Medicine, How To Be Healthier, Ted Shoshana, Ted Talks Health

4.2 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 5 December 2023

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The quest for anesthetics that could induce unconsciousness and enable more meticulous surgeries began around the early 3rd century CE. Before anesthesia was widely used, patients had to consciously endure every moment of surgery. So, what methods did doctors use before modern medicine caught up? Sally Frampton traces the history of anesthetic drugs. This TED-Ed lesson was directed by Alexander Hellebaut, narrated by Alexandra Panzer and the music by Arthur Brouns.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ted Audio Collective. Welcome back to Ted Health. I'm your host Dr. Shoshana Ungerlighter.
0:19.0	Picture this. It's a hospital in the early 1800s and a patient lies fully awake on an
0:26.3	operating table. The surgeon approaches with their knife. The race against time and pain is on.
0:35.3	In the era before anesthesia, the patient's only hope for relief is the surgeon's speed.
0:41.3	It's a far cry from the operating rooms of today.
0:44.3	In this enthralling Ted Ed Talk, medical historian Sally Frampton dives dives deep
0:49.7	into the dramatic history of anesthesia, from its humble beginnings to its pivotal role in
0:55.1	modern medicine and discover how the ability to create an unconscious state
0:59.7	changed the practice of surgery forever.
1:02.8	And join us after the talk for a journey through the history of antibiotics
1:06.8	and clean surgery, which changed medicine forever. ever.
1:23.3	be really grateful if you could take just a few minutes to respond. Please visit survey.PRX.org
1:27.0	slash health to take the survey today.
1:29.8	That's survey dot PRX.org
1:32.0	slash health.
1:33.4	Thanks. With medical students restraining the patient and onlookers eagerly awaiting,
1:46.4	Scottish surgeon Robert Liston poised himself to begin.
1:49.7	In quick succession, he cut his patient's flesh, sawed through their tibia and
1:53.5	fibula, and within just a few minutes the amputation was complete. It was the
1:58.8	1830s and Liston was renowned for his surgical speed.
2:03.2	This was important because before anesthesia was widely used,
2:07.2	patients had to consciously endure every moment of surgery.
	...

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