Welcome to BrainStuff, a production of I-Heart Radio.

Hey Brain Stuff, Lauren Bogobom here.

On your mark, get set, cut.

Speed surgery was once a thing,

and even scarier, it existed out of necessity

because anesthesia had not yet been discovered.

Modern surgeons take their time, often spending hours painstakingly preserving a sterile environment,

making measured decisions, and double-checking their work to ensure success.

But not so long ago, surgery had... double-checking their work to ensure success.

But not so long ago, surgery had to be quick,

because in addition to the prolongment of pain

and the horror of being awake

while a doctor was operating on you,

techniques to prevent blood loss and give transfusions

were practically non-existent.

Plus germ theory hadn't been invented yet, so open air and all the breath and grime that comes with it were allowed to circulate around the operating table.

Overall at the time, the quicker the surgery, the better the odds of survival.

Although all surgeons of the day had to be pretty quick with the cut,

Scottish surgeon Robert Liston, who lived from 1794 to 1847, achieved fame and notoriety for both his surgical skills and his ego, and he's still known today as the fastest surgeon of the 1800s.

Alistin was in high demand because he only lost one out of ten patients on the table during his time

at London's University College Hospital, compared with a mortality rate of one out of four patients

at another nearby hospital.

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