Journal of anesthesia history
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Historical Article
Literature and new innovations leading to the rise and fall of the Swan-Ganz catheter.
In 1970, Harold James Charles Swan and William Ganz published their work on the pulmonary artery catheter (PAC or Swan-Ganz catheter). They described the successful bedside use of a flow-directed catheter to continuously evaluate the heart, and it was used extensively in the years following to care for critically ill patients. In recent decades, clinicians have reevaluated the risks and benefits of the PAC. ⋯ Swan and Ganz contributed to the bedside understanding of the pathophysiology of the heart. The history of the rise and fall in use of the PAC parallels the literature and invention of less-invasive technology. Although the PAC has not been shown to improve clinical outcomes in large randomized controlled trials, it may still be useful in select patients. New less-invasive and noninvasive technology may ultimately replace it if literature supports it.
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Historical Article
How chloroform anesthesia reached Lowell, Massachusetts: From Simpson's pamphlet to Gladwin's advertisement.
J. Y. Simpson of Edinburgh, Scotland discovered chloroform anesthesia in November 1847. ⋯ Jackson's writings in the Boston Daily Atlas, S. F. Gladwin, a dentist in Lowell, Massachusetts, who had been reluctant to pay any ether royalties, demonstrated his independence and opportunism in swiftly adopting chloroform in his practice and publicizing its use through local advertisements.
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Historical Article
Anesthesia in the late 1960s at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Boston: A case report.
Regional and general anesthesia were widely available in the United States in the late 1960s. The risk of permanent neurological sequelae resulting from spinal anesthesia had largely been dismissed. Although many academic departments of anesthesiology had gained independent status, a significant number operated as divisions within the department of surgery. We present a case report from Peter Bent Brigham Hospital to illustrate the state of anesthetic techniques in use during the late 1960s, and the power dynamics vis-à-vis physician anesthesiologists and surgeons. ⋯ Spinal anesthesia remained a popular anesthetic option during the late 1960s. General anesthesia with ether, halothane, and other agents an alternative. This case highlights various aspects of perioperative management during a period when many American academic departments of anesthesiology existed as divisions within the department of surgery. It also touches upon the careers of two prominent American physicians.
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Biography Historical Article
"To nitrous oxide, chloroform gives way": Was Dr. W.J.A. DeLancey's poetic license in advertising…inspired?
Born in New Hampshire but raised in Massachusetts, 14-year-old William J. A. DeLancey became "the man of the house" after the accidental death of his father. ⋯ There he practiced the Coltonian method of testing freshly made nitrous oxide upon himself before using the gas upon patients. Before his training at Colton Dental, DeLancey had advertised in Centralia newspapers only in prose. After he began administering laughing gas to his patients and to himself, DeLancey waxed poetic and began advertising in heroic couplets in local newspapers.
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Biography Historical Article
Julia Gordon Arrowood (1900 - 1984): A Brilliant Anesthesiologist and a Woman of Many Firsts in Medicine.
After a brief "golden age" in the late 1800s, the patriarchal establishment fought back and women faced increasing restrictions in practicing medicine. In 1900, 18.2% of all physicians in the city of Boston were women, but this number decreased to 8.7% by 1930. The relatively young field of anesthesiology was one of the more welcoming specialties for women during this time. ⋯ In 1957, she moved to Kentucky and joined the United Mine Workers hospital system where she worked until her retirement in 1970. Women such as Julia Arrowood remain underrepresented in the annals of the history of medicine. Much work is needed to recognize the many contributions made by women physicians and to provide equal opportunities, pay, and status.