title: The contributions of infection control to a century of surgical progress.
abstract: Although many surgical procedures were well-developed in principle before 1867, their application for the treatment of human disease was limited because of a mortality rate from postoperative infection alone of about 50%. It was the eventual acceptance of Lister's work and the development of the aseptic-antiseptic ritual that allowed operative therapy to be successful and made modern surgery possible. The background leading to the development of aseptic-antiseptic rituals is discussed.
mesh_terms: D004203:Disinfection / Q000266:history; D005602:France; D013502:General Surgery / Q000266:history*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000517:prevention & control; D014481:United States