title: The first intravenous anaesthetic: how well was it managed and its potential realized?
abstract: Our speciality commonly traces its origin to a demonstration of the inhalation of ether by a patient undergoing surgery in Boston in 1846. Less well known is the demonstration of the i.v. injection of opium with alcohol into a dog in Oxford in 1656, leading to anaesthesia followed by full long-term recovery. After gaining i.v. access, a mixture of opium and alcohol was injected, resulting in a brief period of anaesthesia. After a period during which the dog was kept moving to assist recovery, a full recovery was made. Details from this momentous experiment allow us to compare the technique used with modern management. It is important to consider why there was a failure to translate the results into clinical practice and nearly 200 yr of potentially pain-free surgery. Possible factors include lack of equipment for i.v. access, lack of understanding of dose-response effects, and a climate of scientific discovery rather than clinical application. Given the current interest in total i.v. anaesthesia, it seems appropriate to identify its origins well before those of inhalation anaesthesia.
authors.affiliation: University College, High Street, Oxford, OX1 4BH, UK. keith.dorrington@dpag.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Dorrington
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Poole
mesh_terms: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D000762:Anesthesia Recovery Period; D000771:Anesthesia, Intravenous / Q000266:history*; D000776:Anesthesiology / Q000266:history*; D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous / Q000266:history*; D000818:Animals; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D004285:Dogs; D000431:Ethanol; D049670:History, 17th Century; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D009892:Opium
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D000431:Ethanol; D009892:Opium