Where to start!

When you consider the advances even over my career time it's amazing how far we've come....

From sphygmomanometers and a finger on the pulse to monitors you can hold in your hand that cover invasive/non-invasive/oximetry/ECG/ETCO2 etc.

Volatiles from ether to sevoflurane(ok ether wasn't being used when I started but halothane was!)

POC blood gas analysis and clotting

Networked ITU/HDU/theatre monitoring

Fibreoptic intubation and video assisted laryngoscopy

We should all remember:

Holding a mask in a non-scavenged environment

Suxamethonium

We need to remember what to do when the monitoring fails or the power goes down.....

Seriously,I've only scratched the surface,so I'll stop and wait for more.

Interesting discussion and nice points to follow, and I hope some will be for the pediatric age group!

I remember when I was a pediatric resident attending deliveries, keeping the naloxone ready, and very happy to hear that the C section was done with local anesthesia only!

The joy of hearing the first baby's cry is beyond describing!

At the History of Anesthesia meeting 2017 in Boston Jan Hofland and myself presented Towards Quantitative Totally Closed-Circuit Anesthesia – Dev...

I find it remarkable and unique Dennis Jackson presented in 1915 his totally closed system. Basic technically almost identical to the first quantitative anesthesia device the PhysioFlex from 1990 and the future VitaQ to be released this year. It was already based on the quantitative dose Low and Ernst published in their Quantitative Practice of Anesthesia.

Jackson did not set apply a vaporizer but injected a liquid dose in a circulating high flow of his circle.

Being one of the inventors of the PhysioFlex I was not aware of the Jackson device, discovering his article after we realized the PhysioFlex I was impressed.

History is extremely important, so the Anaesthesia history was facinating, the Either history, so the regional Anaesthesia history and doing spinal Anaesthesia for themselfs, standing... But really whats of concern our present public perception! I think still needs to much work from our side.

Dear Dr. Obermair,

I have explored the history of anesthesia more than most, and what I learned is that the founding of professional anesthesiology was a bit of a scandal. The truth is actively discouraged by anesthesia publications and professional organizations. I published a summary of my findings in a paper called "Four Forgotten Giants of Anesthesia History" that can be readily downloaded free of charge via the Internet (https://www.ommegaonline.org/article-details/Four-Forgotten-Giants-of-Anesthesia-History/468) and from my website www.stressmechanism.com.

Kind regards,

Lewis Coleman MD

The Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology has an excellent online timeline of the history of anaesthesia, which includes a summary of the major events. Definitely worth checking out: https://www.woodlibrarymuseum.org/history-of-anesthesia/

Dear Dr. Seglenieks: Yes, the Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology is a valuable resource, but it carefully overlooks critical information. If you wish to find truth, you must dig deeper. Try reading my published paper "Four Forgotten Giants of Anesthesia History". You might be interested to note that the facts presented in this paper are "verboten" in anesthesia lore and literature. The anesthesia history association refused to allow me to present the facts cited in this paper at its annual meeting. Such facts are an embarrassment to the profession. Seek and ye shall find. There is no excuse for ignorance.

“Does wisdom perhaps appear on the earth as a raven which is inspired by the smell of carrion?” 

Friedrich Nietzsche

“The key to wisdom is this - constant and frequent questioning, for by doubting we are led to question and by questioning we arrive at the truth.”—Peter Abelard

These anecdotes are fun reading, but if you really want to learn how real medical science advanced, and how modern anesthesia evolved during the prelude to WWI, you should read Crile's book "Anoci-Anesthesia" that is available free on the Internet. It is a classic. Crile was a master surgeon and serious researcher who built his own dog laboratory and methodically studied pathophysiology. You should also read the screeds of Ralph Waters, the founder of MD anesthesiology, and the publications of Yandell Henderson, who proved the clinical benefits of CO2.

......one of the most fascinating topics of medicine. I enjoyed reading years ago Prof Ellis and Prof Feldman's books-gems on the subject. The image that says everything remains for me the one where 'an entire team (theatre audience) holds the adversary (the patient) like in a rugby match, assisting the irreparable and unpunishable foul (amputation) done by their best player (the surgeon), in the times of Chloroform, and eventually of N2O2 era........

Dr. Veena....hi!

I suggest you should read Prof Feldman's book 'Poison Arrows' and you will find many of your answers. Fabrizio

Regarding P Veena's link to the wfsahq.org summary of history and Dr. Bonnano's book recommendation, what is most significant about these seemingly elucidating sources is that they completely ignore the most important contributors to modern anesthesia: George Washington Crile, who discovered that supplementing general anesthesia with morphine reduces surgical morbidity and mortality; Dennis Jackson, who perfected the "closed circuit" anesthesia machines that were the precursors of modern "open circuit" machines; Yandell Henderson, who discovered that CO2 supplementation prevents deadly CO2 depletion due to hyperventilation during surgery; and Lundy, who discovered that CO2 supplementation accelerates ether induction. The contribution of these four men are persistently and deliberately overlooked in current anesthesiology lore and literature. When you study the contributions of these men, you begin to realize that Ralph Waters and Chauncey Leake invented and imposed a deadly, destructive hoax to establish the anesthesiology profession by demolishing the reputation of the nurse anesthetists who dominated anesthesia practice. The false assumption that is the linchpin of the hoax is the notion that carbon dioxide is "toxic waste, like urine" that must be "rid from the body" by hyperventilation. This notion is incredibly stupid, but it is methodically pounded into the unwitting minds of all anesthesiology residents during their training, and few have the sense to question it. Leake and Waters were criminal monsters who belonged in jail, but instead received prestigious appointments and are remembered with reverence as the founders of the anesthesiology profession. Their mischief thrust a deadly wrench into the delicate machinery of scientific advance, and the resulting confusion has killed countless unsuspecting patients. The real history of anesthesiology is summarized in the attached paper, and I am preparing to publish a book called "50 Years Lost in Medical Advance" that explains the discovery of Selye's stress mechanism, which confers a fresh theory of anesthesia that enables the alteration of anesthetic technique to optimize surgical outcome. The book will be published on Amazon----there's no point in trying to publish something like this with the specialized anesthesiology publishers----they all belong to the powerful medical corporations that promote and protect the hoax. Medicine is poised at the threshold of revolutionary advance, and the anesthesiology profession is the perfect venue for introducing this advance---but only if the hoax can be confronted and destroyed.

Lewis S Coleman Greetings from Congo. Sir, can you please send me the PDF of the book you've mentioned : Anoci-anesthesia.

The book “Anoci-Association” by George Washington Crile is one of the great medical classics. It should be basic reading for anyone who practices medicine. You can read it for free via Google Books at the following website: https://books.google.com/books?id=10GGHXkmaiMC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false