Origin Began developing as a distinct medical practice after the first successful public demonstration of surgical anesthesia in 1846, but did not professionalize as its own physician specialty with formal board certification until well into the twentieth century, later than most of the surgical specialties it supports.
Anesthesiology is the medical specialty concerned with perioperative care: administering anesthesia and managing pain and vital functions before, during and after surgical and other invasive procedures. It emerged as a distinct clinical practice following the first public demonstrations of surgical anesthesia in the 1840s, maturing over the following century into a physician specialty focused specifically on patient safety under sedation.
Facts
Origin PeriodBegan developing as a distinct medical practice after the first successful public demonstration of surgical anesthesia in 1846, but did not professionalize as its own physician specialty with formal board certification until well into the twentieth century, later than most of the surgical specialties it supports. 2 Classification
Type/Classification FAQs
Who is credited with the first public demonstration of surgical anesthesia?
William Morton, in a widely publicized 1846 ether demonstration; the credit is genuinely disputed.
William Morton administered ether during a public surgical demonstration in 1846, the event most often cited as the birth of surgical anesthesia and the reason anesthesiology emerged as its own clinical practice. The credit is disputed: this atlas also records Crawford Long and Horace Wells as variant claimants who used ether or nitrous oxide earlier or in less publicized settings.
Connections
Associated With
Notable Specialists
Source Alta Bates (Wikipedia)
Source Andrea Kdolsky (source article)
August Bier, Healers Surgeon who performed the first spinal anesthesia in 1898.
Source Diego de Argumosa (Wikipedia)
Source Heinrich Braun (source article)
Source Joachim Boldt (Wikipedia)
Source Luke Voyno-Yasenetsky (source article)
Source Maximilian Oberst (Wikipedia)
Source Raed Arafat (source article)
Source Richard Gordon (English author) (Wikipedia)
Virginia Apgar, an anesthesiologist, developed the Apgar score.
Credited with the 1846 public ether demonstration that founded anesthesiology as a clinical practice.
Source The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of HumanityRoy Porter
Treats
Sources
1. Anesthesiology (Wikipedia)
Lead section, sentence 1Quote, Lead section, sentence 1
Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery.
2. The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity
Roy Porter, W. W. Norton and Company, 1997- Origin Period: Began developing as a distinct medical practice after the first successful public demonstration of surgical anesthesia in 1846, but did not professionalize as its own physician specialty with formal board certification until well into the twentieth century, later than most of the surgical specialties it supports.
3. First Public Demonstration of Anesthetic (1846) (Celebrate Boston)
Page body, opening paragraph on the Ether Dome demonstrationQuote, Page body, opening paragraph on the Ether Dome demonstration
one of the greatest moments in medicine occurred on October 16th, 1846.
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Raed Arafat (source article)
Notable Specialists: Raed Arafat, Lead section [in-group]Quote, Notable Specialists: Raed Arafat, Lead section [in-group]
is a Syrian-born Romanian intensive care physician of Palestinian origin, specialised in anesthesiology
Joachim Boldt (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Joachim Boldt, Lead sentenceQuote, Notable Specialists: Joachim Boldt, Lead sentence
is a German anesthesiologist who fabricated or falsified data
Heinrich Braun (source article)
Notable Specialists: Heinrich Braun, Lead paragraph [specialist-in]Quote, Notable Specialists: Heinrich Braun, Lead paragraph [specialist-in]
remembered for his work in the field of anaesthesiology
Andrea Kdolsky (source article)
Notable Specialists: Andrea Kdolsky, Life and careerQuote, Notable Specialists: Andrea Kdolsky, Life and career
She subsequently worked as an anaesthesiologist.
Luke Voyno-Yasenetsky (source article)
Notable Specialists: Luke Voyno-Yasenetsky, Medical careerQuote, Notable Specialists: Luke Voyno-Yasenetsky, Medical career
Voyno-Yasenetsky made a great contribution to anesthesiology.
Alta Bates (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Alta Bates, Lead [specialist-in]Quote, Notable Specialists: Alta Bates, Lead [specialist-in]
first nurse anesthetist in the San Francisco Bay Area
Richard Gordon (English author) (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Richard Gordon (English author), Life and workQuote, Notable Specialists: Richard Gordon (English author), Life and work
worked as an anaesthetist at St. Bartholomew's Hospital
Diego de Argumosa (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Diego de Argumosa, Article text, field of practice [specialist-in]Quote, Notable Specialists: Diego de Argumosa, Article text, field of practice [specialist-in]
encouraging the use of anesthesia in Spain, introducing ether in 1847
Maximilian Oberst (Wikipedia)
Notable Specialists: Maximilian Oberst, Lead paragraph [in-group]Quote, Notable Specialists: Maximilian Oberst, Lead paragraph [in-group]
He is credited for introducing a method of block anesthesia
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
Choose a year to see this entry's facts and connections as the atlas records them at that moment: what it held then, what it held instead, and what it had not yet adopted. Choose Present for the current record.