Joseph lister who is he

Approximately 1 in 4 patients died on surgical wards from infection, and all surgical wards were recognisable by the smell of putrefaction. Lister read the work of Louis Pasteur on the cause of fermentation of beer and milk being due to living organisms.

He realised that this might also be the cause of putrefaction in wounds. After learning that authorities in Carlisle were using creosote to treat smelly sewage, which had not only reduced the odour, but reduced disease amongst cattle and humans, and knowing that the active ingredient was carbolic acid, he started a series of experiments.

He used dressings soaked in carbolic acid to cover wounds and the rate of infection was vastly reduced. Lister then experimented with hand-washing, sterilising instruments and spraying carbolic in the theatre while operating, in order to limit infection. These experiments resulted in the development of the carbolic spray and the antiseptic treatment of wounds, which greatly improved survival rates on the surgical wards.

He published his results in The Lancet in a series of six articles, running from March through July Lister reported that his surgical wards had remained free of sepsis. His work was accepted in Germany but denigrated in London. He brought his house surgeon, Watson Cheyne , three senior students and a nurse from Edinburgh to ensure the success of his work; due to a series of misunderstandings, however, he started in a hostile environment.

The patient was Francis Smith, who had fractured his patella a fortnight earlier. He continued his work on antisepsis after returning to Edinburgh, in , to accept the position of Professor of Clinical Surgery. In , Lister became the first surgeon to be made a peer. Joseph Lister revolutionized surgery in the late 19 th century by introducing antiseptic methods that drastically reduced the incidence of infection and death, dramatically improving patient health while enabling surgical knowledge and approaches to advance rapidly.

This was achieved by packing and covering wounds with lint and gauze soaked in carbolic acid, then layering these with tin and plaster. The result was a 15 percent reduction in post-surgical infections.

By the s, though, declines in the rates of post-operative infection were convincing many of the benefits of antiseptic practice. Photo: Operation using Lister carbolic spray from Antiseptic surgery. After learning that carbolic acid had been used successfully to treat sewage in Carlisle England , Lister selected carbolic acid as his favoured antiseptic.

Although he was not the first to discover carbolic acid, he popularized its use in the medical field. Photo: Carbolic Acid Bottle c. In , Lister recommended that a carbolic acid solution be sprayed in operating rooms during surgery to kill the bacteria in the air around the surgical site.

Over 10 years, Lister experimented with different atomizers to perfect the distribution of carbolic acid solution around the surgical site. A donkey engine pictured here mounted the atomizer on a tripod and was easy to use, but difficult to transport. The steam sprayer above was the ultimate solution, because of its ability to create a sizable vapour cloud with minimal effort.

He was also honoured by royalty a number of times. In Queen Victoria made him a Baronet and in she further honoured him with a full peerage. King Edward VII suffered appendicitis two days before his scheduled coronation. He honoured him by appointing him to the Privy Council and making him one of the original members of the Order of Merit, an exclusive honour that is in the gift of the sovereign.

Following his death, a memorial fund led to the founding of the Lister Medal, seen as the most prestigious prize that could be awarded to a surgeon.