1860-1910: The specialty of anesthesia develops slowly

Abstract

The discovery of anesthesia ultimately enabled remarkable advances in surgical care, but did not immediately change operations. At first, surgeons still pulled teeth, managed injuries, amputated limbs, and performed brief operations requiring momentary but deep levels of anesthesia. So the anesthetist drove the level of anesthesia down and then allowed it to bounce up, the surgeon operating at deeper levels of anesthesia. Further advances required improvements.