James Young Simpson (1811-1870) in the Early 19Th Century Patients Dreaded Surgical Operations

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Surgery: Individuals James Young Simpson (1811-1870) In the early 19th century patients dreaded surgical operations. Anaesthetic was not discovered until 1842, so patients had to endure excruciating pain. In an amputation, the patient would be held down while the surgeon cut through all the soft tissue and bone. The horror of pain forced surgeons to work quickly, often leading to mistakes and a low survival rate. The first successful steps in the conquest of pain were taken by James Simpson. Simpson and his assistants having Who was James Simpson? inhaled chloroform Simpson was the youngest son of a Scottish village baker. He trained as a doctor and became Professor of Midwifery at Edinburgh University. Simpson wanted to cut down the suffering of his patients in childbirth. He often used ether, but disliked it because of its strong smell which made his patients cough. How did he become well known? In 1847, Simpson and two assistants experimented with a new anaesthetic, chloroform, which had none of the side effects of ether. Within a month he had used it successfully on over 50 patients. Was there any opposition to Simpson's ideas? Unfortunately, the use of chloroform was not without risks. Some doctors did not know how to use it properly and in 1848, Hannah Green, aged 15, died from an overdose of chloroform. There was opposition from those who saw chloroform as unnatural and members of the Calvinist Church of Scotland claimed its use was forbidden in the bible. Why was chloroform accepted? In 1853 Queen Victoria was successfully anaesthetised during the birth of her eight child. This turned the tide and from then on chloroform became widely accepted. However, its effects sometimes meant that surgeons spent too long on operations and patients could still die from blood loss and infection. What was Simpson's legacy to medicine? Although his name is always mentioned in books as the developer of anaesthetics, chloroform was only used until around 1900 when it was discovered that it could damage the liver. From then on surgeons returned to using ether. Today, surgeons use a complex mix of drugs administered by a qualified anaesthetist. Simpson's use of chloroform helped to gain popular support for the use of anaesthetics. .

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Sir James Young Simpson and Chloroform
fa?. CORNELL UNIVERSITY. THE THE GIFT OF ROSWELL P. FLOWER FOR THE USE OF THE N. Y. STATE VETERINARY COLLEGE. 1897 U) X m<^STERS OF ÊDICISXÊ EDITED BY ERNEST HART, D.C.L iÔMINES AD DEOS NULLA IN RE ri PROPIU& 'ACCEDUNT QJJXM 'j \z\iSALUTEM HOMINIBUS DANDOVj CICERO. 1 Masters of Medicine Title. Author. John Hunter Stephen Paget William Harvey D'Arcy Power Sir James Simpson H. Laing Gordon Edward Jenner . Ernest Hart Hermann von Helmholtz . yohn G. McKendrick William Stokes Sir William Stokes Claude Bernard Michael Foster Sir Benjamin Brodie Timothy Holmes Thomas Sydenham J. F. Payne Vesalius .... C. Louis Taylor ASTERS OF M EDICINE SIR JAMES YOUNG SIMPSON AND CHLOROFORM Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924000265375 u u^ t-iHj o Sir James Young Simpson AND CHLOROFORM (1811— 1870) p. H. Laing Gordon LiB^liRy \x -^f^ j'> f ^n vD 3Êff YORK LONGMANS, GREEN & CO. 91 & 93 FIFTH AVENUE 1898 T\ - '1* ri^-hx"^ 4S9. V^ G6^ To PROFESSOR ALEXANDER RUSSELL SIMPSON " Him by the hand dear Nature took, Dearest Nature, strong and kind." ^ Ralph Waldo Emerson. " When Nature has work to be done, she creates a genius to do it." Id. PREFACE I HAVE endeavoured to condense the vast amount of matter which has been written concerning this Master of Medicine and his work into the form of a readable narrative, and to represent him in his social and intellectual environment in accordance with the object of this Series.
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JAMES YOUNG SIMPSON AND. HIS OBSTETRIC FORCEPS by HAROLDSPEERT from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Columbia University, New York
Brit J Obs Gyn 1957 V-64 OBSTETRICAL-GYNAECOLOGICAL EPONYMS : JAMES YOUNG SIMPSON AND. HIS OBSTETRIC FORCEPS BY HAROLDSPEERT From the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Columbia University, New York THEobstetric forceps has been modified and re- the same as Dr. F. Ramsbotham’s, but scarcely designed in new form probably more times than so much curved. The lock is Smellie’s, but with any of the other countless number of instruments knees or projections above it of such size as to and devices that man’s mind has conjured up for prevent the blades readily unlocking in the the diagnosis and treatment of his ills. The intervals between the pains, these giving it the Chamberlen family is often credited with inven- fixed character of the locks of Levret and tion of the first safe and effective forceps, in the Bunninghausen’s instruments, without their late sixteenth or early seventeenth century ; but complexity. The joints are made so loose as to archaeological evidence (Fig. 1) shows the allow of their lateral motion and overlapping to forceps to have been in use for the delivery of a very considerable degree, thus facilitating their living infants much earlier, probably the second introduction and application. And, lastly, the or third century, in the days of the Roman handle is that used by Naegele and other German Empire (Baglioni, 1937). During the latter part accoucheurs, viz., with transverse knees or rests of the nineteenth century almost every obstetri- below the lock for one or two of the first fingers cian of renown seems to have felt the need to of the right hand to drag by, the long forceps add his own modification to the forceps; and being only properly used as an instrument of even now scarcely a year passes without the traction, not of compression.
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A Sesquicentennial Celebration
A Sesquicentennial Celebration By Don Caton, M.D. (Dr. Caton, a member of SOAP, is vice president of the Board of Trustees of the Wood LibraryMuseum. He is author of the forth-coming book "What a Blessing She Had Chloroform: The Medical and Social Response to the Pain of Childbirth from 1800 to 1960." During this year's meeting of the ASA he delivered the Lewis H. Wright Memorial Lecture, "The Influence of the Early Feminist Movement on the Development of Obstetric Anesthesia.") This year we celebrate one hundred fifty years of obstetric anesthesia. Obstetric anesthesia began on January 17, 1847 when James Young Simpson administered diethyl ether to a woman with a deformed pelvis to facilitate delivery. Within three months he had anesthetized another five patients and published a paper, which described his accomplishment. By September of the same year he had discovered the anesthetic properties of chloroform, the anesthetic that British physicians favored for obstetrics for the next seventy five years. Simpson's most important contribution, however, may have been his outspoken support of obstetric anesthesia. Initially, virtually every other prestigious obstetrician opposed him. Simpson's technique for anesthetizing obstetric patients was simple. He merely adopted the same crude method then being used for surgery. Simpson placed a cloth over the women's face, poured chloroform onto it until she lost consciousness, and then kept her in that state until she delivered. Often he started the anesthetic early in the first stage of labor. It remained for others to refine Simpson's method and to develop new ones.
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Neurosurg Focus 36 (4):E12, 2014 ©AANS, 2014 The history of neurosurgery and its relation to the development and refinement of the frontotemporal craniotomy D. RYAN ORMOND, M.D.,1 AND COSTAS G. HADJIPANAYIS, M.D., PH.D.2 1Department of Neurosurgery, University of Bonn, Germany; and 2Department of Neurosurgery, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia The history of neurosurgery is filled with descriptions of brave surgeons performing surgery against great odds in an attempt to improve outcomes in their patients. In the distant past, most neurosurgical procedures were limited to trephination, and this was sometimes performed for unclear reasons. Beginning in the Renaissance and accelerating through the middle and late 19th century, a greater understanding of cerebral localization, antisepsis, anesthesia, and hemostasis led to an era of great expansion in neurosurgical approaches and techniques. During this process, fronto- temporal approaches were also developed and refined over time. Progress often depended on the technical advances of scientists coupled with the innovative ideas and courage of pioneering surgeons. A better understanding of this history provides insight into where we originated as a specialty and in what directions we may go in the future. This review considers the historical events enabling the development of neurosurgery as a specialty, and how this relates to the development of frontotemporal approaches. (http://thejns.org/doi/abs/10.3171/2014.2.FOCUS13548) KEY WORDS • frontotemporal craniotomy • history • pterional • keyhole approach HE history of neurosurgery is filled with courageous ries witnessed great advances in anatomical knowledge, individuals who worked against great odds in an but until further developments in the areas of cerebral attempt to improve the lives of their patients.
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Sir James Young Simpson (1811–1870) and Obstetric Anaesthesia P M Dunn
F207 PERINATAL LESSONS FROM THE PAST Sir James Young Simpson (1811–1870) and obstetric anaesthesia P M Dunn ............................................................................................................................. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2002;86:F207–F209 Sir James Young Simpson of Edinburgh became famous and experimenter but also gifted with insight and for his discovery of the anaesthetic qualities of vision. For example, in his graduation address he foretold the use of x rays and other methods of chloroform and his championship of obstetric body imaging, saying: “Possibly by the concentra- anaesthesia. However, as the outstanding British tion of electrical and other lights we may render obstetrician between 1840 and 1870, he also many parts of the body, if not the whole body, sufﬁciently diaphanous for the practiced eye of pioneered many other advances in obstetrics. the physician and surgeon”. .......................................................................... Simpson was too busy to write textbooks. His many contributions to obstetrics were reported in numerous articles to the medical journals of the ames Simpson was born in Bathgate, Linlith- day. With Lever, he shared credit for pointing out gowshire on 7 June 1811. He was the eighth the association of albuminuria and eclampsia. He child (seventh son) of David (died 1830) and J advocated monitoring the fetal heart rate, and Mary (died 1820; née Jarvie) Simpson. Both was perhaps one of the ﬁrst to point out (1855) were of yeoman farmer stock, and David was the village baker. At the age of 4, James went to the that fetal death was frequently preceded by slow- local school where he excelled. The family ing of the fetal heart rate.
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History 179 Doi:10.4997/JRCPE.2012.219 1811–1870)
J R Coll Physicians Edinb 2012; 42:179–83 Paper doi:10.4997/JRCPE.2012.219 © 2012 Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Some (mostly Scottish) local anaesthetic heroes JAW Wildsmith Professor Emeritus, University of Dundee, Nethergate, Dundee, Scotland, UK ABSTRACT In 1884 a young Viennese doctor, Carl Koller, was the first to recognise Correspondence to JAW Wildsmith the significance of the topical effects of the alkaloid cocaine and thus introduced 6 Castleroy Road, Broughty Ferry, drug-induced local anaesthesia to clinical practice. Most subsequent development Dundee DD5 2LQ, UK took place in Europe and the United States, with British interest not becoming apparent for over twenty years. This is surprising because a number of doctors e-mail [email protected] working in Scotland, or with Scottish connections, had made important contri- butions to the earlier evolution of local anaesthetic techniques. This paper reviews the relevant work of James Young Simpson, Alexander Wood, James Arnott, Benjamin Ward Richardson and Alexander Hughes Bennett and the role of John William Struthers in the later promotion of the techniques. KEYWORDS James Young Simpson, Alexander Wood, James Arnott, Benjamin Ward Richardson, Alexander Hughes Bennett, John William Struthers DECLaratIONS OF INTERESTS No conflicts of interest declared. INTRODUCTION Before any form of anaesthesia could become a practical possibility several requirements had to be met: the concept of pain relief for surgery had to be developed, and a prepared mind had to identify an effective agent which could be administered from a suitable delivery system. The analgesic and soporific effects of ether and nitrous oxide were observed and reported long before 1844 when a Connecticut dentist, Horace Wells (1815–1848), was the first to employ the latter agent clinically.
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Sir James Young Simpson (1811–1870) and Obstetric Anaesthesia P M Dunn
F207 Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed: first published as 10.1136/fn.86.3.F207 on 1 May 2002. Downloaded from PERINATAL LESSONS FROM THE PAST Sir James Young Simpson (1811–1870) and obstetric anaesthesia P M Dunn ............................................................................................................................. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2002;86:F207–F209 Sir James Young Simpson of Edinburgh became famous and experimenter but also gifted with insight and for his discovery of the anaesthetic qualities of vision. For example, in his graduation address he foretold the use of x rays and other methods of chloroform and his championship of obstetric body imaging, saying: “Possibly by the concentra- anaesthesia. However, as the outstanding British tion of electrical and other lights we may render obstetrician between 1840 and 1870, he also many parts of the body, if not the whole body, sufﬁciently diaphanous for the practiced eye of pioneered many other advances in obstetrics. the physician and surgeon”. .......................................................................... Simpson was too busy to write textbooks. His many contributions to obstetrics were reported in numerous articles to the medical journals of the ames Simpson was born in Bathgate, Linlith- day. With Lever, he shared credit for pointing out gowshire on 7 June 1811. He was the eighth the association of albuminuria and eclampsia. He child (seventh son) of David (died 1830) and J advocated monitoring the fetal heart rate, and Mary (died 1820; née Jarvie) Simpson. Both was perhaps one of the ﬁrst to point out (1855) were of yeoman farmer stock, and David was the village baker. At the age of 4, James went to the that fetal death was frequently preceded by slow- local school where he excelled.
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Exhibit 26 Anesthesia
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10 328 GCSE History.Ch10.Indd
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