antiseptics Flashcards
(17 cards)
What were the 20 years between anaesthetics and the discovery of antiseptics called?
The black period
What did Semmelweiss first realise about women having their babies delivered by midwives compared to doctors?
Many more women died if they were with doctors.
What death made semmelweiss investigate further and realise the doctors were the problem?
The death of a friend of his who cut his finger while doing an autopsy.
What did Semmelweiss make all of the doctors do?
Wash their hands.
Give to reasons of why other doctors ignored Semmelweiss’ advice.
1) His behaviour was odd and he was rude.
2) He had no evidence to support his theory.
Whose ‘germ theory’ did Lister use to develop his ideas?
Louis Pasteur’s
Where did Lister get the idea to use Carbolic acid?
It was used in the sewers to treat sewage.
What was Lister’s first operation using carbolic acid and how did he use it?
1) On a young boy’s knee
2) He soaked the bandages in it and there was no infection.
In what year did Lister publish his results?
1867
What opposition was there to Lister’s idea to use the donkey engine in surgery?
1) expensive
2) Cracked the surgeons skin
3) Slowed operations down
4) Didn’t achieve his results
5) Surgeons didn’t believe the germ theory
6) They believed he was criticising them for letting so many people die before.
7) He often changed his techniques which made people believe his techniques didn’t work in the first place.
What did Semmelweiss make doctors wash their hands with?
Calcium Chloride
What percentage did the death rate fall by using Lister’s methods?
From 46% to 15%
Why was there opposition to antiseptics? (6)
1) It was expensive, cracked surgeons skin and smelled bad.
2) Surgeons liked speed and it slowed them down.
3) When surgeons copied his methods they didn’t achieve the same results as Lister and blamed him.
4) many surgeons neither read nor believed the germ theory.
5) They had accepted that many people died in surgery and felt that Lister’s results made them look bad and that he was criticising them.
6) Lister kept changing his techniques and surgeons thought that meant his techniques didn’t work in the first place.
When did surgery move from antiseptic to aseptic?
The late 1890’s
What does aseptic surgery mean?
Operating theatres are cleaned and sterilised to stop there being any germs in the room at all.
What did they do to remove germs from the operating theatre?
1) rigorously clean hospitals and operating theatres.
2) From 1887 all surgical tools were sterilised.
3) Surgeons wore surgical gowns.
4) In 1894 sterilised rubber gloves were used for the first time.
What happened as a result of both pain and infection being solved?
Surgeons could develop surgery.
