Antiseptic Surgery Introduced
Joseph Lister published his work on antiseptic surgical techniques, saving millions of lives
March 16, 1867
When Surgery Was Deadly
In the 1860s, surviving a surgical operation was far from guaranteed. Even when surgeons performed procedures successfully, patients frequently died afterward from infections. Hospitals were filthy places, and surgeons often moved directly from performing autopsies to operating without washing their hands. Wound infections, sepsis, and gangrene were so common that some physicians debated whether hospitals did more harm than good. The death rate following amputations in some hospitals exceeded 40 percent. A profound change came from an unlikely direction: a British surgeon who read the work of a French chemist.
Lister's Revolutionary Idea
Joseph Lister was a surgeon at Glasgow Royal Infirmary who had been troubled by post-surgical infection rates. In 1865, he read Louis Pasteur's germ theory, which proposed that microorganisms were responsible for disease and decay. Lister made the connection that bacteria might be causing surgical infections. He began using carbolic acid, also known as phenol, to clean wounds, instruments, and his hands before and during surgery. His first major test case was an 11-year-old boy named James Greenlees who had a compound fracture of the leg. Using carbolic acid dressings, the wound healed without infection. Lister published his results in The Lancet in 1867.
The Birth of Modern Surgical Practice
Lister's antiseptic method was not immediately accepted. Many surgeons resisted changing their practices, and some doubted germ theory entirely. But results were hard to argue with. Hospitals that adopted Lister's methods saw dramatic drops in patient mortality. Over time, antiseptic technique evolved into the aseptic approach used today, which focuses on preventing germs from entering the surgical environment at all through sterile equipment, gloves, and gowns. Joseph Lister is now recognized as one of the founders of modern surgery. The antiseptic mouthwash Listerine was named in his honor in 1879.