The history of anesthesia in Japan

Abstract

In 1804, Seishu Hanaoka performed breast surgery in women anesthetized with herbs producing unconsciousness for 8-24 hours. News of Morton's discovery arrived in Japan in 1850 with Seikei Sugita's translation of Schlesinger's German monograph. In 1855, Sugita gave the first ether anesthetic, and Genboku Ito gave chloroform in 1861. Nagayoshi Nagai discovered ephedrine in 1887. In what may have been the first use of intrathecal opioids, Otoziro Kitagawa injected two patients with 10 mg of morphine in 1901, relieving pain in both. In 1934, the Nippon Dental Junior College established the first anesthesia department, but anesthesia remained relatively undeveloped until after World War II. Anesthesia usually consisted of open drop ether and spinal anesthesia, administered by the youngest member of the surgical team. In 1950, American Meyer Saklad lectured in Tokyo, attracting the interest of Japanese surgeons in tracheal intubation and artificial ventilation. Surgeon Kentaro Shimuzi, convinced a young surgeon, Hideo Yamamura, to concentrate on anesthesia. Following study in the US, in 1956 Yamamura became the Professor and Chief of the Department of Anesthesia at the University of Tokyo. The Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists initiated board examinations in 1963.