Joseph Lister, the “father of modern surgery,” died on this day in 1912. Lister revolutionized medicine’s understanding of infection treatment by relying on the then-novel scientific theories to discover, and then popularize, the use of sterilization in surgery.
Lister was born in 1827 to a well-off Quaker family, with a well-respected father who worked as a respected scientist and wine merchant who created lenses that were foundational to the creation of the microscope. After getting top marks at the prestigious University College London Medical School, Joseph began work as a surgeon, quickly noticing the surge of gangrene cases and other post-operative infections among patients. Surgery had become so deadly by then that some social movements called for it to be outlawed.
Lister disbelieved the common theory that airborne miasmas worsened wounds. He relied on the work of his contemporary Louis Pasteur, who had pioneered the germ theory of disease, to figure out what could prevent those life-threatening infections.
Lister introduced the first antiseptic into medicine, carbolic acid, during surgery on compound fractures. He found that when he used it, people exited treatment with better mortality rates and fewer cases of gangrene. Less gangrene meant fewer amputations, then the standard treatment for the condition.
It quickly swept the medical scene and massively improved rates of post-operative infections. He continued to be at the forefront of sterilization research throughout his career.
For more on Lister, check out this article on PubMed.
