Surgical experience of chloroform / By James Miller.

  • Miller, James, 1812-1864.
Date:
1848
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Surgical experience of chloroform / By James Miller. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    IX. THE ANAESTHETIC SHOULD BE GIVEN IN BED RATHER THAN ON THE OPERATING TABLE. 4 This applies especially to Hospital practice. It is a great matter to avoid the excitement which in most cases is pro¬ duced, and sometimes to a very inconvenient extent, when a patient is brought, with all his nerves screwed to a pitch of unnatural tension, and his senses preternaturally acute, into an operating theatre. The impression made on him by the glare of light, the hum of voices, the movement of feet, the glance of instruments, the ominous table, vacant till he comes, the steam from pitchers of hot water, dressers in their aprons, the suspicious extent of clean linen in the shape of towels, and the crowd of eager faces in the benches around, all staring at him—the impression of these things is anything but favourable. Some patients there are, doubtless, of the harder sex, who care not one w^hit for such display. But the majo¬ rity of either sex quail under it. Alarmed before, they are more than frightened now, and either lose heart wholly, and flee the room ; or submit to the preliminaries of operation, already labouring under an amount of shock equal to that which the operation itself might have been expected to pro¬ duce. Even the apprehension of dreadful sights and doings causes much distress. The removal of an alarmed adolescent, from his bed to the operating table of the theatre, was, under the old regime, an undertaking by no means of easy accom¬ plishment. Sometimes his progress might be traced, from its very flrst movements, by frightful yellings, or at least by sobs of deep distress; and occasionally a plurality of stout assist¬ ants scarcely sufficed to prevent, on the w^ay, a self-effected rescue and escape. All this was bad ; painful, injurious, and unseemly. All is now done away. The time for operation is come. The patient, in bed, is approached by a single assistant, w^ho requests him to breathe slowly and fully from a handkerchief held loosely before the face. He breathes, becomes sensible of strange noises in his ears and head, grows giddy, sleeps, snores; and snoring and insensible he is carried off to the operating table; there