CME INDIA Presentation by ⚜ Dr. M. Gowri Sankar, MD, Senior Assistant Professor, Dept. of General Medicine, Government Medical College and ESI Hospital, Coimbatore.
Today’s History Feature:
Dr. William T. G. Morton
(Aug 9, 1819 – Jul 15, 1868)
💠American Dental Surgeon
His contributions…
🔸Morton had done his dental studies at world’s first dental college Baltimore College of Dental Surgery and graduated in 1840.
🔸In 1844, he joined the Harvard Medical School, where he got interested in learning about Ether. Hence, he studied the properties of ether from his professor Dr. Charles T. Jackson.
🔸After his studies, he began the experimental research on ether. On September 30, 1846 he performed the First Painless Tooth Extraction by administering ether to patient.
🔸Thereupon, Dr. Morton had invented a Delivery Instrument (Inhaler) to enable ether inhalation during surgery. His device consisted of glass flask with a wooden mouthpiece that could be opened and closed depending on patient’s state of consciousness.
🔸On October 26, 1846, he gave the First Successful Public Demonstration of painless surgical removal of jaw tumor by using his newly invented ether inhaler at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
🔸Subsequently, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, an American physician and a medical reformer had suggested the apt word “Anaesthesia” to Dr. Morton for his pioneering work. The meaning of Anaesthesia in Greek is An – Without, Aesthesia – Sensibility.
🔸Thus Dr. Morton created the new field of anaesthesiology and opened a new era in surgery. He further took immeasurable steps forward.
🔸To honour his immense achievements in the field of anaesthesiology, October 16 has been declared as “Ether Day” and is globally recognized as “World Anaesthesia Day.”
A Day to Commemorate…
A Man of Great Accomplishment
Dr. William T. G. Morton 🙏
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