Robert Liston
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Robert Liston (1794, Ecclesmachan, West Lothian - 1847) was a pioneering Scottish surgeon. He was likely the best surgeon of his day, noted for his skill and his speed in an era prior to anaesthetics. He was able to complete operations in a matter of seconds, at a time when speed was essential to reduce pain and improve the odds of survival of a patient; he is said to have been able to perform the removal of a limb in an amputation in roughly 30 seconds. He also performed the first operation in Britain using modern anaesthesia during Christmas 1846, in the University College Hospital, London
There are stories of occasions when his operations went wrong due to the speed at which he attempted them. The most notable example of this is when he amputated a man's testicles along with his leg by mistake. He is said to have cut off the fingers of his assistant (who later died due to infection). There is, however, apparently no precise source for these stories, so they might well just be regarded as urban legends.
Liston received his education at Edinburgh University and in 1818 became a surgeon in the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. He became Professor of Clinical Surgery at University College, London in 1835, and in December of 1846, he carried out the first public operation using ether anaesthetic in the UK. He invented locking forceps, and the Liston Splint, used to stabilise dislocations and fractures of the femur. His father was Henry Liston.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Robert Liston at the Gazetteer for Scotland
- Robert Liston at general-anaesthesia.com
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