History of Anesthesia

The Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology (WLM) presents an interactive timeline of the history of anesthesia and the profession of anesthesiology through important milestone people, places, dates and developments.

While the use of opium poppy and other herbal remedies as anesthetics date back to early civilization, the first public demonstration of modern anesthesia was on October 16, 1846 (“Ether Day”). William T. G. Morton and surgeon John Collins Warren made anesthesia history at Massachusetts General Hospital with the successful use of diethyl ether “anaesthesia” to prevent pain during surgery. Since this historic milestone, advancements in anesthesia administration and newer anesthetics led to the medical specialty of anesthesiology in the early 20th century.

ca. 4000 BCE

Sumerian artifacts depict opium poppy.

Resources

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WLM Rare Book Room – Digital Copies of Titles:

WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

ca. 2250 BCE

Babylonians relieve toothache with henbane (Hyoscyamus niger).

ca. 1600 BCE

Acupuncture is being practiced in China, according to Shang Dynasty pictographs on bones and turtle shells.

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ca. 1187 BCE

In Homer’s Odyssey, the Greek goddess Circe uses deliriant herbs (Mandragora and/or Datura) in a brew to seemingly transform Odysseus’ men into swine.

650 BCE - 393 AD

At the Oracle of Delphi, Apollo’s Pythian priestesses utter prophecies after breathing in fumes emanating from geologic faultlines beneath the Temple to Apollo. One of the inhaled gases may have been ethylene, an inhalational anesthetic which will be popular clinically by the mid-1920s AD.

ca. 600 BCE

India’s Sushruta uses cannabis vapors to sedate surgical patients. Over ensuing centuries, other herbs like aconitum would supplement that sedation in India and eventually in China.

ca. 400 BCE

Assyrians use carotid compression to produce brief unconsciousness before circumcision or cataract surgery. Egyptians employ the same technique for eye surgery.

ca. 350 BCE

Plato refers to ANAIΣΘHΣIA in his work Timaeus.

ca. 160

Hua Tuo (ca. 111 – 207 AD) performs surgery with his general anesthetic Mafeisan, a wine and herbal mixture.

Resources

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ca. 800 – ca. 1200s

After herbal mixtures including opium, mandrake, henbane, and/or hemlock are steeped into a soporific or sleep-bearing sponge (“spongia somnifera”), the sponge is dampened so that anesthetic vapors or drippings can be applied to a patient’s nostrils. These sponges were likely historical cousins to the so-called Roman or Arabic sponges (used during crucifixions, surgeries, and other painful events).

Resources

WLM Rare Book Room – Digital Copies of Titles:

WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

Anesthesiology Reflections:

WLM Rare Book Room – Digital Copies of Titles:

WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

Anesthesiology Reflections:

ca. 1350

Inca shamans chewed coca leaves mixed with vegetable ash and dripped their cocaine-laden saliva into the wounds of patients.

1525

Paracelsus (1493–1541)—First to use ether on animals.

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1659

The future “Sir Christopher Wren” and Anglo-Irish chemist Robert Boyle (1627–1691) pioneered intravenous therapy by injecting opium through a goose quill into a dog’s vein.

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1771 - 1786

Joseph Priestley (1733–1804)—English chemist and natural philosopher, discovers “airs” of oxygen and nitrous oxide; the first to isolate oxygen.

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Anesthesiology Reflections:

1779

Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1815)—In Mémoire sur la découverte du magnétisme animal, he describes using magnets and hypnosis to cure many ailments.

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1804

Japan’s Hanaoka Seishu (1760-1835) formulates his general anesthetic Tsusensan.

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ASA Newsletter Articles:

1805

Pharmacist Friedrich Sertürner (1783–1841)—Isolates a new substance from opium, which he later names “morphium” after Morpheus, the god of dreams.

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1824

Henry Hill Hickman (1800-1830) describes carbon dioxide anesthesia for animals.

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1842

William Clarke (1819‐1908)—In Rochester, New York, a medical student etherizes a single patient for a dental extraction.

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1842

Dr. Crawford W. Long (1815-1878) etherizes James Venable for removal of neck cysts on March 30, 1842. Dr. Long would become honored as the 1st anesthesiologist on a US Postage stamp (1940) and as the inspiration for the 1st “National Doctors Day” on March 30, 1991.

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1845

Dr. Horace Wells (1815-1848)-After bravely volunteering to inhale nitrous oxide for his own dental extraction back in December of 1844, Dr. Wells demonstrates nitrous oxide anesthesia for a tooth extraction near Massachusetts General Hospital, but the partial anesthetic is judged a “humbug.”

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1846

On October 16, 1846 William T. G. Morton (1819-1868) made history by being first in the world to publicly and successfully demonstrate the use of ether anesthesia for surgery. This occurred at what came to be called “The Ether Dome,” at Massachusetts General Hospital on patient Edward Gilbert Abbott. Surgeon John Collins Warren noted, “Gentlemen, this is no humbug.” Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894)-suggests the terms “anaesthetic” and “anaesthesia” in a letter to William T. G. Morton. News of Morton’s ether demonstration was carried by the paddle steamship Acadia from Boston to Dr. Francis Boott and then on to Dr. James Robinson (1813-1862), who extracted a tooth on December 19, 1846, under ether anesthesia. In 1847 Robinson authored one of the first textbooks on anesthesia: A Treatise on the Inhalation of the Vapour of Ether for the Prevention of Pain in Surgical Operations.* On December 21, Scottish surgeons in Dumfries, Scotland (Dr. William Scott) and in London (Dr. Robert Liston) amputate limbs of etherized patients- the first such surgical anesthetics in the British Isles. Liston commented, “This Yankee dodge beats mesmerism hollow.” Dr. Liston describes the surgery in a letter to Dr. Francis Boott, which is published in The Lancet. The WLM owns this letter.

Resources

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Anesthesiology Reflections:

WLM Anesthesiologists’ Famous Patients’:

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WLM Anesthesiologists’ Famous Patients’:

1847

Prof. James Y. Simpson (1811-1870)-Scottish obstetrician begins administering chloroform to women for pain during childbirth. Chloroform quickly becomes a popular anesthetic for surgery and dental procedures as well. Chloroform was discovered independently in 1831 by the USA’s Samuel Guthrie, France’s Eugène Soubeiran, and Germany’s Justus von Liebig.

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1853

Drs. Charles Pravaz (1791-1853) and Alexander Wood (1817-1884)-These men independently invented the hollow hypodermic needle, which will be attached to an earlier invention, the syringe popularized in 1845 by Ireland’s Francis Rynd.

Resources

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1853 & 1857

Dr. John Snow (1813-1858)-A fulltime anesthetist since 1847, Dr. Snow popularizes obstetric anesthesia by chloroforming Queen Victoria for the birth of Prince Leopold (1853) and Princess Beatrice (1857). His books On the Inhalation of the Vapour of Ether** and On Chloroform and Other Anaesthetics*** enlightened physician-anesthetists. His sourcing of the 1854 London cholera epidemic to the Broad Street water pump founded epidemiology.

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1889

At the Philadelphia College of Dentistry, Henry I. Dorr, MD, DDS was appointed as the world’s 1st Professor of the Practice of Dentistry, Anaesthetics and Anaesthesia. The world’s 1st unidisciplinary “Professors of Anaesthesia” will follow in dentistry at Chicago’s American College of Dental Surgery (1892, George Leininger, MD) and in medicine at the New York Homeopathic Medical College (1903, T. Drysdale Buchanan, MD).

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1891

From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, The Dental and Surgical Microcosm is published as the world’s first journal “devoted chiefly to the science of Anaesthesia and Anaesthetics.”

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Anesthesiology Reflections:

1893

The London Society of Anaesthetists, the world’s first anesthesia society, is formed in London, England.

1894

Medical students E. Amory Codman (1869-1940) and Harvey Cushing (1869-1939)-develop the first anesthesia record using observed respiratory rate and palpated pulse rate. By 1901, Cushing will add blood pressure measurement by Riva Rocci sphygmomanometry; by 1903, respiratory rate and heart rate as auscultated by precordial stethoscope (use of which was pioneered by Cushing on dogs and by his favorite physician-anesthetist, S. Griffith Davis, on patients).

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1901

Caudal epidural analgesia is described independently by France’s Drs. Jean-Anthanase Sicard and Fernand Cathelin. Their innovation comes after an inadvertent epidural injection by Dr. J. Leonard Corning (1855-1923).

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1902

Dr. Mathias J. Seifert of Chicago coins the words “anesthesiology” and “anesthesiologist.” He asserted that an “ANESTHETIST” is a technician and an “ANESTHESIOLOGIST” is the scientific authority on anesthesia and anesthetics.

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1902

Dr. Frederic W. Hewitt administers a chloroform-ether mixture to the future King Edward VII. Perhaps tugging on the portly prince’s beard (to keep the royal airway open) inspired Hewitt by 1908 to design his oral “air-way.”

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1905

Alfred Einhorn (1857-1917)-German chemist develops procaine and names the substance “Novocain.”

Resources

WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

1914

Dr. Dennis E. Jackson develops a carbon dioxide (CO2) absorbing anesthesia system, allowing for a patient to re-breathe their exhaled air containing the anesthetic, cleansed of the carbon dioxide, resulting in the use of less anesthetic and the avoidance of waste. Ten years later, Dr. Ralph Waters develops the first simple and easily transportable absorber, known as the “Waters Canister” and the “Waters To-and-Fro.”

Resources

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1916

The 1st of 7 editions of The Art of Anaesthesia is published by Dr. Paluel J. Flagg, the 1919-1920 ASA President.

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Anesthesiology Reflections:

1920

Arthur Guedel publishes his eye signs of ether anesthesia in the American Journal of Surgery. His Guedel (oral) airway is still used today, and he has been memorialized by the Arthur E. Guedel Memorial Anesthesia Center, San Francisco, CA.

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1922

From Cleveland, Ohio, Current Researches in Anesthesia and Analgesia is launched by Francis H. “Frank” McMechan (1879-1939) as the world’s first journal published by an anesthesia society, the International Anesthesia Research Society.

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ASA Newsletter Articles:

WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

ASA Newsletter Articles:

1923

Dr. Isabella Herb administers the first ethylene-oxygen surgical anesthetic. She demonstrated the remarkable trance-like state that low-dose ethylene could induce in human subjects.

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1927

Dr. Ralph M. Waters arrives at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. From there he will train his anesthesia residents (Waters’ trainees were affectionately known as “Aqualumni”) in one of the world’s 1st university-based residency training programs in anesthesiology. Waters also will pioneer carbon dioxide absorbing apparatus (To-and-Fro Canister), will clinically introduce intravenous sodium thiopental and inhalational anesthetic cyclopropane, and will become the ASA President in 1945.

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1929

The Anaesthetists’ Travel Club is organized by Dr. John S. Lundy, who will popularize use of the intravenous anesthetic thiopental (Pentothal) and will become the ASA President in 1946. The popularity of thiopental-as a swift-onset intravenous agent for inducing general anesthesia-will pave the way for other totally unrelated intravenous induction agents, such as ketamine, etomidate, and propofol.

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1933

To the NYSA (the future ASA), Dr. Paul M. Wood formally donates his personal collections, which form the basis of his future namesake, the Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.

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Anesthesiology Reflections:

1935

Dr. Emery A. Rovenstine arrives at Bellevue Hospital in New York to establish a premiere residency there. Having co-pioneered in the 1930s the use of cyclopropane and punch-card databases of his anesthesia cases, he co-founds the American Board of Anesthesiology and New York’s PostGraduate Assembly in Anesthesiology. He will serve as the 1943-1944 ASA President and will receive the ASA’s Distinguished Service Award in 1957.

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1937

Prof. Robert R. Macintosh-Appointed to the world’s 1st endowed chair in Anaesthetics, Oxford’s Nuffield Professor Macintosh would introduce his curved laryngoscope blade- the world’s favorite- in 1943 and be knighted in 1955 for redesigning aviators’ life jackets.

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1940

Two years after forming as a subsidiary to the American Board of Surgery and the year after administering its first written examination, the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) is granted independent board status. The ABA helped define anesthesiology as a medical specialty and provided the American medical establishment with formal recognition of physicians specializing in the art and science of anesthesia. An ABA founder, Dr. Paul M. Wood also serves as Business Manager for Anesthesiology, the journal that the ASA begins publishing in July of 1940.

Resources

WLM Library – Free eBooks:

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WLM Multimedia Collection:

  • The following Anesthesiology journal Editors-in-Chief have participated in interviews for The John W. Pender Collection of the Living History of Anesthesiology.
    • Anesthesiology Editor-in-Chief (1971-1973) Dr. Arthur S. Keats
      (Keats, Arthur S./M.T. Pepper Jenkins (1988)) – VIEWABLE ONLINE
      Dr. Keats has also participated in the interviews of the following doctors:

      • (Arens, James F./Arthur S. Keats (1996))
      • (Fink, B. Raymond/Arthur S. Keats (1988))
      • (Stephenson, Betty P./James F Arens, Arthur S. Keats (2002))
    • Anesthesiology Editor-in-Chief (1986-1996) Dr. Lawrence J. Saidman
      (Saidman, Lawrence J./Thomas Hornbein (1997)) – VIEWABLE ONLINE
    • Anesthesiology Editor-in-Chief (1997-2007) Dr. Michael M. Todd
      (Todd, Michael M./David S. Warner (2010)) – VIEWABLE ONLINE
    • Anesthesiology Editor-in-Chief (1959-1962) Dr. James E. Eckenhoff was interviewed in 1988 by Anesthesiology Editor-in-Chief (1963-1970) Dr. Leroy D. Vandam. Dr. Eckenhoff was also interviewed in 1982 by Drs. Edward A. Brunner and Harry W. Linde.
      Dr. Eckenhoff has also participated in the interviews of the following doctors:

      • (Macintosh, Sir Robert/James E. Eckenhoff (1983))
      • (Dripps, Robert D./Drs. Prevoznik, Dumke, Eckenhoff, Vandam (1988))
    • Anesthesiology Editor-in-Chief (1963-1970) Dr. Leroy D. Vandam
      (Vandam, Leroy D./Elliott V. Miller (1980))
      Dr. Vandam has also participated in the interviews of the following doctors:

      • (Adriani, John/Leroy D. Vandam (1977))
      • (Dripps, Robert D./Drs. Prevoznik, Dumke, Eckenhoff, Vandam (1988))
      • (Dumke, Paul R./Leroy D. Vandam (1985))
      • (Eckenhoff, James E./Leroy D. Vandam (1988))
      • (Greene, Nicholas M./Leroy D. Vandam (1985))
      • (Vandam, Leroy D./Elliott V. Miller (1980))
      • (Hershey, S. G./Leroy D. Vandam (1987))
    • Anesthesiology Editor-in-Chief (1973-1976) Dr. Nicholas M. Greene
      (Greene, Nicholas M./Leroy D. Vandam (1985))
      Dr. Greene has also participated in the interview of Dr. Torsten Gordh:

    • Anesthesiology Editor-in-Chief (1980-1985) Dr. John D. Michenfelder
      (Michenfelder, John D./Alan D. Sessler (1991))
    • Anesthesiology Editor-in-Chief (1976-1979) Dr. C. Philip Larson has participated in the interview of Dr. William K. Hamilton:
      • (Hamilton, William K./C. Philip Larson (1983))
    • Anesthesiology Editor-in-Chief (2007-present) Dr. James C. Eisenach, M.D. has participated in the interview of Dr. Francis M. James:

WLM Library – Free eBooks:

WLM Finding Aids:

WLM Multimedia Collection:

  • The following Anesthesiology journal Editors-in-Chief have participated in interviews for The John W. Pender Collection of the Living History of Anesthesiology.
    • Anesthesiology Editor-in-Chief (1971-1973) Dr. Arthur S. Keats
      (Keats, Arthur S./M.T. Pepper Jenkins (1988)) – VIEWABLE ONLINE
      Dr. Keats has also participated in the interviews of the following doctors:

      • (Arens, James F./Arthur S. Keats (1996))
      • (Fink, B. Raymond/Arthur S. Keats (1988))
      • (Stephenson, Betty P./James F Arens, Arthur S. Keats (2002))
    • Anesthesiology Editor-in-Chief (1986-1996) Dr. Lawrence J. Saidman
      (Saidman, Lawrence J./Thomas Hornbein (1997)) – VIEWABLE ONLINE
    • Anesthesiology Editor-in-Chief (1997-2007) Dr. Michael M. Todd
      (Todd, Michael M./David S. Warner (2010)) – VIEWABLE ONLINE
    • Anesthesiology Editor-in-Chief (1959-1962) Dr. James E. Eckenhoff was interviewed in 1988 by Anesthesiology Editor-in-Chief (1963-1970) Dr. Leroy D. Vandam. Dr. Eckenhoff was also interviewed in 1982 by Drs. Edward A. Brunner and Harry W. Linde.
      Dr. Eckenhoff has also participated in the interviews of the following doctors:

      • (Macintosh, Sir Robert/James E. Eckenhoff (1983))
      • (Dripps, Robert D./Drs. Prevoznik, Dumke, Eckenhoff, Vandam (1988))
    • Anesthesiology Editor-in-Chief (1963-1970) Dr. Leroy D. Vandam
      (Vandam, Leroy D./Elliott V. Miller (1980))
      Dr. Vandam has also participated in the interviews of the following doctors:

      • (Adriani, John/Leroy D. Vandam (1977))
      • (Dripps, Robert D./Drs. Prevoznik, Dumke, Eckenhoff, Vandam (1988))
      • (Dumke, Paul R./Leroy D. Vandam (1985))
      • (Eckenhoff, James E./Leroy D. Vandam (1988))
      • (Greene, Nicholas M./Leroy D. Vandam (1985))
      • (Vandam, Leroy D./Elliott V. Miller (1980))
      • (Hershey, S. G./Leroy D. Vandam (1987))
    • Anesthesiology Editor-in-Chief (1973-1976) Dr. Nicholas M. Greene
      (Greene, Nicholas M./Leroy D. Vandam (1985))
      Dr. Greene has also participated in the interview of Dr. Torsten Gordh:

    • Anesthesiology Editor-in-Chief (1980-1985) Dr. John D. Michenfelder
      (Michenfelder, John D./Alan D. Sessler (1991))
    • Anesthesiology Editor-in-Chief (1976-1979) Dr. C. Philip Larson has participated in the interview of Dr. William K. Hamilton:
      • (Hamilton, William K./C. Philip Larson (1983))
    • Anesthesiology Editor-in-Chief (2007-present) Dr. James C. Eisenach, M.D. has participated in the interview of Dr. Francis M. James:

1941

Henry K. Beecher, MD- After his appointment to the USA’s first endowed chair in anesthesiology as Harvard’s Henry Isaiah Dorr Professor of Anaesthesia Research, Prof. Beecher will pioneer understanding of medical ethics, patient consent, clinical trials, the placebo effect, and “brain death.”

Resources

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ASA Newsletter Articles:

WLM Multimedia Collection:

1941

The ASA develops a classification for patient’s physical status before surgery that alerts the medical team to patient’s overall health. The ASA Physical Status Classification System is now used in hospitals all around the world.

Resources

American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA):

1941

Dr. Robert Hingson develops Continuous Caudal Anesthesia, an innovation in obstetrical anesthesia that provides continuous pain relief for prolonged or difficult labor. In 1958, Dr. Hingson starts Brother’s Brother, a nonprofit charity for supplying medical, educational, and agricultural supplies worldwide. His needle-free “Peace Guns” would mass-immunize millions by jet injection and would be featured as the “Hypospray” in Star Trek and many science fiction films.

Resources

WLM Rare Book Room – Digital Copies of Titles:

WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

ASA Newsletter Articles:

WLM Finding Aids:

WLM Multimedia Collection:

WLM Rare Book Room – Digital Copies of Titles:

WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

ASA Newsletter Articles:

WLM Finding Aids:

WLM Multimedia Collection:

1942

Drs. Harold Griffith (1894-1985) and Enid Johnson (1909-2001)
Squibb’s Lewis H. Wright, MD supplied pharmaceutical grade curare to Drs. Griffith and Johnson for the world’s 1st successful anesthetic use of the muscle relaxant. The curare had been received by Squibb in raw form in 1939 following Ecuadorean expeditions by Richard C. Gill (1901-1958).

Resources

WLM Library – Free eBooks:

WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

Anesthesiology Reflections:

WLM Multimedia Collection:

  • Drs. Harold Griffith, Enid Johnson, and Lewis H. Wright have participated in interviews for The John W. Pender Collection of the Living History of Anesthesiology.
    • Dr. Harold R. Griffith
      (Griffith, Harold R./J. E. Wynands (1977))
    • Dr. Lewis H. Wright participated in an interview, sharing reminiscences of Dr. Philip Dudley Woodbridge, together with Drs. Morris J. Nicholson and John B. Stetson
      (Wright, Lewis H. (1967))
    • Dr. Enid Johnson McLeod
      (McLeod, Enid Johnson/Charles E. Hope)

WLM Library – Free eBooks:

WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

Anesthesiology Reflections:

WLM Multimedia Collection:

  • Drs. Harold Griffith, Enid Johnson, and Lewis H. Wright have participated in interviews for The John W. Pender Collection of the Living History of Anesthesiology.
    • Dr. Harold R. Griffith
      (Griffith, Harold R./J. E. Wynands (1977))
    • Dr. Lewis H. Wright participated in an interview, sharing reminiscences of Dr. Philip Dudley Woodbridge, together with Drs. Morris J. Nicholson and John B. Stetson
      (Wright, Lewis H. (1967))
    • Dr. Enid Johnson McLeod
      (McLeod, Enid Johnson/Charles E. Hope)

1944

Sweden’s Torsten Gordh, MD (1907-2010) clinically introduces lidocaine as a local anesthetic.

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WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

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1945

After receiving the 1st Distinguished Service Award of the newly renamed American Society of Anesthesiologists, Wood Library-Museum Founder Paul M. Wood announced his plans for New York’s 1st PostGraduate Assembly in Anesthesiology (PGA). (ASA membership reaches 1,977 in 1945.)

Resources

WLM Archives:

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WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

  • Nikethamide – In the 1930s, Dr. Wood conducted research with nikethamide
  • Picrotoxin – In the 1930s, Dr. Wood conducted research with picrotoxin

WLM Finding Aids:

WLM Archives:

WLM Library – Free eBooks:

WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

  • Nikethamide – In the 1930s, Dr. Wood conducted research with nikethamide
  • Picrotoxin – In the 1930s, Dr. Wood conducted research with picrotoxin

WLM Finding Aids:

1953

Dr. Virginia Apgar (1909-1974)-Publishes now-universal APGAR Score to assess the health of newborns. She will direct the precursor to the March of Dimes and will be honored (1994) as the 1st female anesthesiologist to grace a U.S. postage stamp.

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1953

Dr. John J. Bonica (1917-1994)- A masterwork on multidisciplinary approaches for relieving pain, The Management of Pain is published by Dr. John J. Bonica, who would become the 1966 ASA President.

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1954

Drs. Henry Beecher and Donald Todd publish “Deaths Associated with Anesthesia and Surgery,” reporting their research findings on perioperative mortality.

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WLM Multimedia Collection:

1955

The World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) was constituted at the first World Congress of Anaesthesiologists (WCA) in Scheveningen, the Netherlands in 1955.

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1956

The UK’s Dr. Michael Johnstone clinically introduces halothane, the first modern-day brominated general anesthetic. The USA’s 1st uses of halothane would follow by Drs. C. Ronald Stephen and then E. S. “Rick” Siker, who would become the 1973 ASA President.

Resources

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ASA Newsletter Articles:

WLM Multimedia Collection:

  • Dr. Siker has participated in the following interviews for The John W. Pender Collection of the Living History of Anesthesiology.
    • Dr. E. S. “Rick” Siker
      (Siker, E.S./Bernard Wolfson (1984))
    • Dr. Francis F. Foldes has been interviewed by Dr. E. S. “Rick” Siker
      (Foldes, Francis F./E. S. Siker (1982))
    • Dr. Martin Helrich has been interviewed by Dr. E. S. “Rick” Siker
      (Helrich, Martin/E.S. Siker (1989))

WLM Library – Free eBooks:

WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

ASA Newsletter Articles:

WLM Multimedia Collection:

  • Dr. Siker has participated in the following interviews for The John W. Pender Collection of the Living History of Anesthesiology.
    • Dr. E. S. “Rick” Siker
      (Siker, E.S./Bernard Wolfson (1984))
    • Dr. Francis F. Foldes has been interviewed by Dr. E. S. “Rick” Siker
      (Foldes, Francis F./E. S. Siker (1982))
    • Dr. Martin Helrich has been interviewed by Dr. E. S. “Rick” Siker
      (Helrich, Martin/E.S. Siker (1989))

1956

In memory of 5 fallen anesthetic pioneers, the ASA founds the Anesthesia (Memorial) Foundation to “loan or give money to deserving persons to assist them in becoming specialists in anesthesia or for research or study in the field of anesthesia…”

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1958

John W. Severinghaus developed a complete gas apparatus by combining his practical version of Stow’s CO2 electrode with Clark’s pO2 electrode.

Resources

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WLM Multimedia Collection:

  • Dr. Severinghaus participated in interviews for The John W. Pender Collection of the Living History of Anesthesiology.
    • Dr. John W. Severinghaus has been interviewed by Dr. Thomas F. Hornbein
      (Severinghaus, John W./Thomas F. Hornbein (1988))
    • Dr. John F. Nunn has been interviewed by Dr. John W. Severinghaus
      (Nunn, John F./John W. Severinghaus (1990))

WLM Library – Free eBooks:

WLM Multimedia Collection:

  • Dr. Severinghaus participated in interviews for The John W. Pender Collection of the Living History of Anesthesiology.
    • Dr. John W. Severinghaus has been interviewed by Dr. Thomas F. Hornbein
      (Severinghaus, John W./Thomas F. Hornbein (1988))
    • Dr. John F. Nunn has been interviewed by Dr. John W. Severinghaus
      (Nunn, John F./John W. Severinghaus (1990))

1960

Drs. Joseph Artusio, Alan van Poznak et al. begin human trials of the inhalational anesthetic methoxyflurane.

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1963

Dr. Edmond I. Eger, II describes minimum alveolar concentration (MAC), later characterized as “the concentration [of inhaled anesthetic] producing immobility in 50% of patients subjected to a noxious stimulus.”

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WLM Multimedia Collection:

1963

Dr. Paul M. Wood passes away and his namesake Wood Library-Museum opens 6 months later in a 2-story annex to the ASA’s one-story headquarters on Busse Highway in Park Ridge, Illinois.

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WLM Feature:

WLM Archives:

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1964

Dr. Günter Corssen et al. begin human trials of the dissociative intravenous anesthetic ketamine.

1966

Dr. Robert Virtue et al. begin human trials of the inhalational anesthetic enflurane.

1969

The ASA launches the Self-Evaluation Program, the first in a series of educational initiatives for members. Renamed the Self-Education and Evaluation Program (SEE) by 1979, this initiative provides a self-assessment which practitioners could complete at their own convenience. SEE enables anesthesiologists to gain an objective measure of their professional knowledge and provides guidance for continuing education. By 2004, the Anesthesiology Continuing Education Program (ACE) was launched. ACE facilitates lifelong learning by allowing practitioners to assess their status of knowledge, identify any areas of improvement, and prepare for the written anesthesiology recertification examination.

Resources

American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA):

1970

Dr. J. Antonio Aldrete publishes his “Postanesthetic Recovery Score.”

Resources

WLM Multimedia Collection:

1972

Isoflurane is clinically introduced as an inhalational anesthetic.

Resources

WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

1985

The Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) is founded by the ASA.

Resources

WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

1985

Dr. S. R. Mallampati publishes a study validating a clinical sign for predicting difficult tracheal intubation.

Resources

WLM Rare Book Room – Digital Copies of Titles:

WLM Rare Book Room – Digital Copies of Titles:

1986

The ASA approves the first medical standard-of-care for basic intraoperative monitoring. In subsequent years, the ASA promulgates evidence-based Practice Parameters and Standards, Guidelines, and Statements.

Resources

WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

ASA Newsletter Articles:

Anesthesiology Reflections:

American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA):

1990

The Overseas Anesthesia Teaching Program (OTP) is founded by Dr. Nicholas M. Greene. Later, the Global Humanitarian Outreach Program (GHO) encourages volunteerism, supports anesthesia education and training in low- and middle-income countries, advocates for long-term academic partnership with hospitals and universities in countries of need, and collaborates with organizations, institutions, and initiatives with common missions and philosophies. In 2011, the ASA awards the first NICHOLAS M. GREENE, M.D. AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING HUMANITARIAN CONTRIBUTION.

Resources

WLM Multimedia Collection:

1992

Desflurane is clinically introduced as an inhalational anesthetic.

Resources

WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

1993

The ASA publishes its first Difficult Airway Algorithm, specifying a safe and systematic approach to assisted ventilation in patients under general anesthesia.

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1994

Sevoflurane is clinically introduced as an inhalational anesthetic.

Resources

WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

1999

In its report To Err is Human, the Institute of Medicine lauds the efforts of anesthesiologists in improving patient safety.

Resources

WLM Online Museum Exhibits:

Anesthesiology Reflections:

2000-2012

Starting in 2000, Maintenance of Certification (MOCA) begins for newly-minted Diplomates of the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA). Over the next dozen years, individual ASA members and then a formal ASA committee work with the ABA to establish a Simulation Education Network (SEN) to assist in educating and certifying anesthesiologists in their medical specialty.

2009

The Anesthesia Quality Institute (AQI) is founded by the ASA.

2011

The ASA Charitable Foundation is established.

2012

Publication of The Heritage of Anesthesia: Patrick Sim’s Annotated Bibliography of the Rare Book Collection of the Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology. From 1971-2010, Patrick Sim, MLS had worked as the sole and then the senior librarian at the ASA’s Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology. (The ASA’s membership reaches 50,023 in 2012.)

Resources

2013

As its membership numbers pass 50,000, the ASA breaks ground for its Schaumburg, Illinois complex.

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2013

ASA Launches Perioperative Surgical Home

The PSH model is a physician-led, patient-centric, team-based system of coordinated care that guides patients through the entire surgical experience, from the decision to undergo surgery to discharge and beyond, with the goal of providing cost-effective, high quality perioperative care and exceptional patient experiences.

2014

The ASA moves into its new Schaumburg, Illinois complex.

Visitors to the WLM will first notice the visually spectacular timeline exhibit "From Darkness to Light." The massive 55-foot sweep is composed of anesthesia artifacts, images, text, and media that have all been arranged chronologically in a hierarchical format. The historical and organizational context provides viewers with a way to understand important milestone people, places, dates and developments associated with anesthesia and the anesthesiology profession as we know it today.

Resources

2016

Protect Safe VA Care

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) preserves physician-led, team-based care for Veterans in VA health care facilities.