If you have ever had to undergo a surgical procedure, you were probably very happy for the anesthesia that knocked you out before the first cut. Unfortunately in the 1800s, patients did not have this luxury. Instead, they were forced to undergo long and painful surgeries while awake and while feeling everything. There were many doctors who wanted to solve this issue, but they did not know how to – until – Dr. Robert Liston. Liston was famous for performing surgery extremely fast, as to reduce the amount of time his patients had to endure the excruciating pain. He wrote about his methods in his 1837 book “Practical Surgeries”. Dr. Liston was very famous for his surgeries and was a well-respected surgeon within the medical field. In 1847, he encountered a patient who needed a leg amputation. Liston performed the surgery in 25 seconds, but his speed came with unforeseen consequences; he ended up cutting his assistant’s fingers off along with the patient’s leg. The room was filled with spectators, who were shocked at what they had seen. One man was so frazzled, that he dropped to the ground and died of shock and freight. The procedure proved to be wildly unsuccessful, as both the patient and Liston’s assistant died of sepsis. Thus, the surgery was left with a 300% mortality rate, and remains the only surgery in history to have reached that percent. Although this infamous procedure was a serious damper on Dr. Liston’s success rate; he still remained at the top of his field. His death rate was very low compared to other surgeons, and his tactic of performing extremely fast worked relatively well.
Even though something like this happening in today’s society would be insane, Liston’s procedures were a revolutionary force in the medical field at the time. This story just goes to show how far science and technology has evolved in recent years. Also, I think Dr. Liston would be shocked to learn that surgeons generally take between two and three hours for a leg amputation now.
Works Referenced:
https://allthatsinteresting.com/robert-liston