In the late nineteenth century, modern surgery was still emerging from an era in which hygiene was, by today’s standards, startlingly poor. Operations were often performed with bare hands, instruments were reused with minimal cleaning, and postoperative infections were common and frequently fatal. Although ideas about germs were gaining ground, everyday medical practice lagged behind theory. It was in this transitional moment that Caroline Hampton, a surgical nurse, played an unexpected role in reshaping operative hygiene.
William Halsted operating in the New Surgical Ampitheatre in 1904. Credit: Wellcome Library, London
Click Here to read more Amusing Planet
Caroline Hampton's Rubber Gloves
4/
5
Oleh
Chandu Numerology
