Tackling Pain

Medicine Through Time – Surgery in the 19th Century, 1800-1900

In this course, Dr Sally Frampton (University of Oxford) explores how surgery developed in the 19th-century. In the first three modules, we look at how surgeons in the 19th-century sought to tackle the three issues of pain, bleeding, and infection. In the fourth module, we focus in on the patient experience throughout the 19th century. In the final module, we look at surgeons themselves and how the process of becoming a surgeon changed over the course of the century.

Tackling Pain

In this module, we look at how surgeons sought to deal with the issue of pain throughout the 19th century. Before the 19th century, surgery was an incredibly painful experience for the patient. However, with the discovery of anaesthetics it became less so.