George Washington Crile

George Washington Crile (1864 to 1943) was an American surgeon who helped carry operative practice into its modern form. Wikipedia records that he is now formally recognized as the first surgeon to have succeeded in a direct blood transfusion, and that he contributed to other procedures, among them neck dissection for cancer of the head and neck. His name survives in the operating room through the Crile mosquito clamp, a small hemostatic forceps he designed to control bleeding. He also described a technique that combined opioids, regional anesthesia and general anesthesia, a concept now known as balanced anesthesia, which links his surgical work to the care given around an operation. In 1921 he co-founded the Cleveland Clinic. As with any early twentieth century surgeon, credit for firsts in transfusion is worded with care in the sources, so this entry follows the lead of the cited article and does not claim more than it states.