Sterile Surgery Was Once Considered Radical. What Will Be Unthinkable in 100 Years?

There was a time when the only way to cross the ocean was by boat…the only way to go over a mountain was on foot…and the only way to survive a surgery was with luck. Innovation has made what was once standard practice unimaginable to our modern minds.

Let me take you back to 1886.

At that time surgeons didn’t wash their hands before a procedure. The cotton used to dress a patient’s wounds was unprocessed and taken from a barrel by a doctor’s bare hands. Though it’s hard to believe for many of us today, sterile surgery was such a radical idea that it was highly controversial in the medical community. In 1897, a leading pharmaceutical journal even published an editorial labeling sterile surgery “a fad practiced by cranks.”

Some surgeons saw the value in sterile surgery, but many faced difficulties incorporating these practices. Sterile surgery tools were difficult to come by, and most medical schools didn’t provide training for how to best use them. Johnson & Johnson saw an opportunity to help bridge this gap. In 1887, we became the first company to mass-produce sterile surgical dressings and sutures. We quickly realized that access to sterile materials was not the only barrier surgeons faced. Just one year later in 1888, our founders published a manual that helped teach surgeons how to best use sterile materials in their operating rooms.  

We didn’t stop there. As science and technology evolved, so did we.

During World War I in 1917, amputation became the first line of defense against infected wounds on muddy battlefields. The Carrel-Dakin sterile irrigation system was invented to clean wounds and save soldiers’ limbs and lives, but the system was difficult to get to the wounded. Our company understood the potential impact of this system on the health and quality of life of these brave soldiers.  We stepped in to help, developing a process to mass produce and transport this system to the trenches. Fewer lives were lost to infection and more soldiers were able to avoid amputation.  

These stories—and there are many more—from our early days inspire me. They show what can happen when leading-edge technology is powered by people who are driven by a passion to save and improve lives. 

Today that same spirit is alive at Johnson & Johnson as we pioneer new med tech solutions that will change the game for doctors and patients. There are seven billion people in the world, and five billion don’t have access to safe and effective surgery. It’s a huge unmet need that we’re working to make unthinkable in the future.

Where we were once a pioneer of sterile surgery, we are now the world-leader in open and laparoscopic surgery. We’re carving another milestone into our history of disrupting medical intervention with the recent addition of Auris, a leader in endoluminal technology. I’m excited by the potential of the Monarch platform to address significant unmet needs in lung cancer and beyond.

As we usher in the future of digital surgery and look ahead to the next five…ten…twenty years, I know Johnson & Johnson will be at the front lines, continuing to blaze the trail to reach more patients and make surgery better and safer for everyone.