August 12: On This Day in World History … briefly
Although Lister was so roundly honoured in later life, his ideas about the transmission of infection and the use of antiseptics were widely criticised in his early career.
1865: Pioneer of antiseptic surgery champions infection prevention
During an operation at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, British surgeon Joseph Lister (38) demonstrates a new method of preventing infection of a surgical wound. It involved the use of carbolic acid as an antiseptic to protect the patient against micro-organisms. Lister fervently hoped that the new method would lead to a drop in the-then current 50 percent mortality rate among amputation cases.
Lister promoted the idea of sterile surgery while working at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, successfully introducing carbolic acid (now known as phenol) to sterilise surgical instruments and to clean wounds.
Applying Louis Pasteur’s advances in microbiology, he championed the use of carbolic acid as an antiseptic, so that it became the first widely used antiseptic in surgery. He first suspected it would prove an adequate disinfectant because it was used to ease the stench from fields irrigated with sewage waste. He presumed it was safe because fields treated with carbolic acid produced no apparent ill-effects on the livestock that later grazed upon them.
Lister’s work led to a reduction in post-operative infections and made surgery safer for patients, distinguishing him as the ‘father of modern surgery’. He died on February 10, 1912, at his country home (now known as Coast House) in Walmer, Kent, at the age of 84. After a funeral service at Westminster Abbey, he was buried at West Hampstead Cemetery, London in a plot to the south-east of central chapel.
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
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