A History of Anesthesia: From Ancient Remedies to Modern Medicine

Before the discovery of anesthetics, medical surgery was an act of last resort. Whether having a tooth removed, a tumor or growth cut out or a limb amputated, patients suffered terrible pain and trauma.

Soporific Sponge

• The soporific sponge was a very early painkilling device, used as early as the ninth century. Its anesthetic properties came from a mixture of ingredients like hemlock, nightshade and mandragora. Breathing in the fumes rendered a patient unconscious so surgery could be performed.

Nitrous Oxide

• More commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous oxide was first discovered in 1793 and used recreationally until the 1840s, when dentist Horace Wells experimented with it as a means for pain relief. He demonstrated its use to a group of scientists at Harvard Medical School by anesthetizing a man before removing his tooth. Since the patient still experienced some discomfort, the Harvard scientists were not impressed, although nitrous oxide is still used by dentists today.

Ether

• In 1846, Boston dentist William T.G. Morton demonstrated the use of ether as an anesthetic in front of an audience of surgeons and medical students. He removed a tumor from the jaw of Gilbert Abbott after making him breathe ether through a specially-designed gas inhaler. When Abbott woke up, he had no memory of pain from the operation.