Joseph Lister

Joseph Lister

1. He was an appointed professor of Surgery at Glasgow University in 1859 and a surgeon at Glasgow Royal Infirmary

2. Carbolic Acid Spray

   • In 1864 he discovered Carbolic acid was used to kill parasites in Sewers and Pasteur's Germ Theory
   • After nine months of using Carbolic acid there was no sepsis in the wards
   • He tested it on an eleven year old boy with a compound fraction and he got no infection.
   • His work was copied by other surgeons, which means people believed his theories
   • He improved silk stitches by using Catgut, which could be sterilised, stopped infection and dissolved
   • His work was significant because an antisepetis that worked
   • Used for soaking bandages to kill parasites and came out of Carbolic Acid Sprayer

3. Opposition

   • Did not accept Microbes caused disease as they could not be seen
   • Using Carbolic Acid spray slows operations leading to Blood Loss
   • Doctors did not always copy his ideas accurately and then said Lister's ideas were wrong
   • Lister kept changing his methods to improve his work, many doctors thought this meant he was unsure
   • Equipment was expensive and heavy
   • Some surgeons had good results without the spray
   • The nurses resented extra work caused my emphasis on Hygeine