How the Invention of Anesthesia Became the Disappearance of Pain

We expect to feel no pain during surgery – and it’s true that most of us won’t even remember what took place. In fact, you probably couldn’t get someone to agree to go under the knife without being medically unconscious.  

So I think it’s safe to say, the invention and development of anesthesia are one of the most vital creations in the medical field today.   

However, before the 19th century, many patients had to suffer through unimaginable pain during surgery due to lack of effective numbing medicine.  

Records of opium poppy, wine, cocaine, and other herbal remedies were commonly used sedatives for masking pain, but a U.S dentist, named William T.G Morton, is credited as the first doctor to effectively administer anesthesia to a surgical patient. 

 He was able to extract teeth from his patient, who later recalled no pain or memory of the procedure.  

Hundreds of years later, general anesthesia has been used in over 200 million surgical procedures.

This iconic invention will continue to reach new heights as technology and mankind acquire more knowledge.  

National Men’s Health Month may be over, but the need for new, innovative medical devices and inventions continues to grow. As a medical device patent attorney, I’ve had continued success with helping my clients protect and profit from their idea.

In today’s blog, I’m going to be discussing how the man credited with creating anesthesia couldn’t apply for a patent.

How Pain Was Numbed Before Anesthesia

Imagine being wide awake while having your eyes gouged into for cataract surgery? Pretty scary to say the least. Well, prior to anesthesia this was pretty common. Anything from minor to major surgeries used to be performed while a patient was wide awake.

Here are just a few of aids that were used pre-anesthesia and even after:

• Alcohol - patients were sometimes given wine, and made drunk to increase their pain tolerance.
• Narcotics - reports of opium poppies being used to numb pain date back to 4,000 B.C. Some methods even included soaking up sponges with opium and other pain-alleviating herbs.
• Cocaine 

The Development of Anesthesia

The concept of needing to numb or reduce pain was always prevalent. Still, up until the 1800s, no one knew how to sedate a patient successfully.

On October 16th, 1846, a young ambitious dentist, named William T.G Morton, successfully administered anesthesia to a surgical patient using ether. The patient was instructed to inhale the vapor of ether and was soon sedated. Not only was the surgery performed, but the patient had no recollection of it or of feeling pain. 

Morton's procedure was demonstrated in front of other surgeons of the Massachusetts General Hospital. His performance catapulted his success from a knowledgeable dentist to a highly-sought-after healer.

Morton was a trailblazer lighting up a path for doctors to follow in his footsteps. Just a few months shy of his big performance, two London doctors were able to perform a tooth extraction and amputation, respectively. 

In that same year, Morton applied for a patent on anesthetic Letheon. Though it was initially granted -- the U.S. Government would later reject it. Even though Morton was able to succeed with ether, he did not create it -- he found a new use for the typical chemical compound.

By 1847, chloroform was discovered and introduced as an anesthetic. It was used during childbirth, for surgeries and dental procedures despite the side effects of sudden death and liver damage. Eventually, this method became replaced by much safer and effective compounds, such as sevoflurane and isoflurane. 

The Future of Anesthesia in the Health Field

Can anesthesia go beyond the surgical room? According to Sonya Pease, MD. CMO for anesthesia services at Knoxville-based TeamHealth, she believes it’s a must. To do so, she believes in perioperative leadership.

Simply put, that means reducing the risk of re-admittance and less satisfied patients by coordinating care “for patients in the pre-, post- and intraoperative phases, helping to lessen patients' risk factors and improve their outcomes.”

Dr.Pease also gave her predictions for the future of anesthesia to move towards a zero-defect approach. Here and a few of them:

• Pharmacogenetic testing - personalized to a patient to predict response to therapy. Improvements can then be made in medication medicine, depending on the patient's genotype.
• Non-Invasive Cardiac Output measurements - used during pre-optive testing to assess the dynamics of blood flow.
• Anesthesia Information Management System (AIMS) for powerful decision tools with real-time clinical guidance to predict medical issues before it arises.

 Conclusion

 Despite the many medical advances we've seen to date, more opportunities are opening up daily to contribute to the health field with a new, innovative idea. If you have a new medical device idea or one that you've been working on for years, it's important to seek the right legal help to protect your intellectual property.

The Patent Professor ? is a top firm for intellectual property for I.P. law. We provide sophisticated representation to investors specializing in medical and dental devices.

For more information, please visit The Patent Professor ?.

About the Author

John Rizvi is a Registered and Board Certified Patent Attorney, Adjunct Professor of Intellectual Property Law, best-selling author, and featured speaker on topics of interest to inventors and entrepreneurs (including TEDx).

His books include "Escaping the Gray" and "Think and Grow Rich for Inventors" and have won critical acclaim including an endorsement from Kevin Harrington, one of the original sharks on the hit TV show - Shark Tank, responsible for the successful launch of over 500 products resulting in more than $5 billion in sales worldwide. You can learn more about Professor Rizvi his patent law practice at www.ThePatentProfessor.com

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I’ve helped hundreds of inventors successfully prosecute their patent applications, from initial filing to final award and look forward to helping you with your new idea.

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