150 years ago, a doctor walked into a room.
On the table in front of him was a patient lying down.
Around the room, with chairs watching him, was a crowd of skeptical doctors.
The doctor walked forward and signaled to the patient on the table. His assistant came forward with a container; he then proceeded to place a tube in the patient’s mouth.
He then had the patient inhale while his assistant passed water into his mouth.
Then, under the gaze of the doctors who continued to look at him with skepticism, he stepped forward, knife in hand.
He held the knife against the patient’s skin. Then he pressed down and slid the blade through, beginning his incision.
And all the doctors’ eyes opened wide.
Before this moment – this would have been the beginning of high-pitched screams in agony.
And now?
Silence.
The observing doctors were amazed.
For the first time, they could hear only the movement and noises of the surgical team. Their footsteps, their instruments clanking together. The cuts. The application of sutures. The doctor whispering orders to his assistant.
For patients, the threat of surgery without anesthesia was omnipresent and universally feared. Many had to face this outcome if they wished to extend their lives.
William T. Morton, using ether, was the first doctor to introduce surgery with anesthesia. I recognize that most people aren’t familiar with him, but we greatly appreciate his contribution.