Who Invented Anaesthesia

An article by Peter Pierce    Comments Off

Anesthesia is the most remarkable and renowned discovery in the medical field. It was invented by Alfred Velpeau in the year 1839. It helps a patient slowly drift unconsciousness while still being aware. But it was used by doctor Crawford Williamson Long in the year 1842 for the first time. He used it towards removal of tumour from the back neck of the patient.

It is medically induced on a patient and not resembles either the natural state of analgesia which is the loss of muscle reflexes or amnesia which is decreased response on stress and loss of responsiveness. Inducing anesthesia on a patient allows the patients to undertake the surgery and other clinical procedures without incurring pain.

It may also be explained as a reversible lack of consciousness that includes both total lack of consciousness as well as partial lack of consciousness. The former refers to general anaesthesia and the latter refers to specific/local anaesthesia like spinal anesthesia.

General anaesthesia inhibits the sensory and sympathetic transmission of nerves at brain level. Local anesthesia restrains the sensory awareness of a specific part of the body for instance tooth. General anesthesia inhibits the larger area of the body by blocking nerves transmission. Regional anesthesia includes spinal and epidural anesthesia.