Asepsis secundum artem : the practical application of the art of asepsis to the preparation of surgical dressings / Johnson and Johnson Aseptic Laboratories.

  • Johnson & Johnson.
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Asepsis secundum artem : the practical application of the art of asepsis to the preparation of surgical dressings / Johnson and Johnson Aseptic Laboratories. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    The Advance of Asepsis^ EDICINE and surgery have made more progress in the last twenty years than in the twenty centuries preceding. The surgical dressing has kept pace with this progress. In the beginning of the present era of surgery the teachings of Lister demanded that dressings to be applied to a wound should be saturated with chemicals capable of killing germs. Antiseptics were then empirically applied. The masses of pitch, paraffin, fat and carbolic acid which made up a typical dressing were directly opposite to those in use at the present time. ,> In the decades which have followed this epoch, the principles of antisepsis have made continuous progress. The accurate observations of bacteriology have brought a clearer knowl- edge of micro-organisms and their influence in the causation of wound infection. This knowledge has determined the value of antiseptics, and has given to the surgeon newer and better weapons than those first used in the combat against wound infection. Chemical sterilization and mechanical cleanliness are among the newer weapons that have been called to the aid of the surgeon. The antiseptic dressing has been made surgically clean. Antisepsis has not been abandoned, but has developed into its higher form—asepsis. Thus the antiseptic dressing has become aseptic. The present requirements for a surgical dressing are defined by a competent authority as— 1. Absorb well wound secretions. 2. Be free from pathogenic organisms. 3. Work antiseptically,/. ^., prevent decomposition of the ab- sorbed secretions. Materials possessing the power to absorb and disinfect wound secretions are easily secured ; but the fundamental requirement, that all material which shall come in contact with the wound shall be free from pathogenic organisms, is not so easy of fulfilment. Pathogenic organisms are widely distributed and are universally present under the conditions which surround the preparation of dress- ings. They are easily transferred to and held by the materials which enter into the composition of dressings.