Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio, Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Bogle Bomb here on your mark. It's set. Cut speed surgery was once a thing, and even scarier. It existed out of necessity because anesthesia had not yet been discovered. Modern surgeons take their time, often spending hours painstakingly preserving a sterile environment, making measured decisions,
and double checking their work to ensure success. But not so long ago, surgery had to be quick because, in addition to the prolong mint of pain and the horror of being awake while a doctor was operating on you, techniques to prevent blood loss and give transfusions were practically non existent. Plus germ theory hadn't been invented yet, so open air and all the breath and grime that comes
with it were allowed to circulate around the operating table. Overall, at the time, the quicker the surgery, the better the odds of survival. Although all surgeons of the day had to be pretty quick with the cut. Scottish surgeon Robert Liston, who lived from seventeen to eighteen forty seven, achieved fame and notoriety for both his surgical skills and his ego and he's still known today as the fastest surgeon of
the eighteen hundreds. A. Liston was in high demand because he only lost one out of ten patients on the table during his time at London's University College Hospital, compared with a mortality rate of one out of four patients at another nearby hospital. Plus, if you absolutely had to get your leg cut off, you'd want it to be done quickly and with total confidence. Right Liston reportedly had
speed and self assurance in spades. As was common at the time, his operating room was also a theater where other medical personnel and even spectators off the street could come and watch surgery being performed, but Liston had a reputation of something near a carnival barker. He often goaded before beginning time me gentlemen. Fellow surgeons were sometimes resentful of his cocky attitude, particularly because he liked to take on patients who had been written off as hopeless by
other doctors. Whatever their opinion of his personality, his ability to amputate a limb start to finish in twenty eight seconds from the initial cut to the very last stitch garnered a certain respect in the medical community and among patients. Medical historian Dr Richard Gordon called him the fastest knife in the West End of London. Of course, his lightning quick surgical skills resulted either in some major mishaps or
exceptionally tall tales, depending on who you ask. His most notorious alleged mistake possibly claimed the lives of three people in his operating room, the patient, a surgical assistant, and a spectator. The legend goes that he was amputating a man's legs so fast that he inadvertently cut off his assistant's fingers and then slashed the bystanders coat while changing instruments.
Both the assistant and patient were said to have died from resulting gang green infections, while the eyestander died of shock from fear that had been stabbed. It's considered by those who believe it's true to be the only surgery in history with a three mortality rate mishaps aside a,
Liston was hardly a one trick pony. He contributed several innovations to the medical community, such as locking forceps and the Listons splint, which remains in use today to stabilize femur breaks, and he's credited with bringing the beginnings of anesthesia to Europe, having heard about the use of ether in dentistry and surgeries in the United States. In fact, he was the very first European surgeon to use ether
to sedate a patient. Patient, Frederick Churchill, who required a leg amputation, reportedly woke up several minutes after the operation was over, only to inquire about when the surgery was going to begin. Nowadays, the same sort of amputation that Churchill underwent would require a minimum of two to three hours in the operating room, followed by a hospitalization of
five to fourteen days. Sadly, for List And a sailing accident took his life less than one year after Churchill's groundbreaking amputation, but either continued to be used experimentally in operating rooms, although it's high flammability potential and toxic nature eventually became apparent. Fortunately, it was finally replaced with the beginnings of modern anesthesiology, which many of us have grown
to appreciate, perhaps especially after hearing this episode. Today's episode was written by Alia Hoyt and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots of other quick topics, visit How Stuff Works Dot com Brainstuff is production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts to my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.