Every PAINFUL Surgery Explained in 17 Minutes
Summary
TLDRThis script delves into the harrowing medical procedures of the pre-anesthesia era, where patients underwent excruciating surgeries like lithotomy for kidney stones, cataract removal without any pain relief, and limb amputations with only leather straps to bite on. It also covers the grim realities of cesarean sections, hemorrhoidectomies, and trepanation, illustrating the stark contrast between past and modern medical practices.
Takeaways
- 🩺 In 17th century Europe, a traveling lithotomy performed painful bladder stone removals without anesthesia.
- 👀 Cataract surgery before anesthesia involved cutting into the lens with a sharp needle, causing extreme pain.
- 🩹 Amputation in the Napoleonic Wars was a brutal process, often done with a bone saw and hot iron to cauterize wounds.
- 🤰 Cesarean sections before anesthesia were life-threatening for mothers, who were conscious and in severe pain throughout.
- 🩲 Hemorrhoidectomy was a gruesome procedure, with surgeons cutting and suturing while patients were fully awake.
- 💀 Trepanation, or skull drilling, was performed in ancient civilizations to release 'bad spirits' causing headaches.
- 🧠 Lobotomy, a now-discredited psychiatric procedure, involved hammering picks through the eye sockets into the brain.
- 🏥 Mastectomy in the 1800s was a last resort for breast cancer, often resulting in severe pain and high mortality rates.
- 🦷 Dental extractions were done with crude tools, causing immense pain and potential damage to the jaw.
- 🔪 Tumor excision surgeries were performed by cutting and digging out cancerous masses while patients were conscious.
Q & A
What was the role of a traveling lithotomy in 17th century Europe?
-A traveling lithotomy was a surgeon specializing in removing bladder stones, using instruments like a lithotomy knife and a thin rod, and was the only hope for those suffering from kidney stones in 17th century Europe.
How were bladder stones removed during a lithotomy procedure?
-Bladder stones were removed by making an incision and using tongs and forceps to extract the stones through the narrow urethral tube, all without anesthesia, which was extremely painful for the patient.
What challenges did cataract surgery present before the advent of anesthesia?
-Before anesthesia, cataract surgery involved using a sharp needle or knife to cut into the eye tissue, which caused intense pain and required the patient to be forcibly restrained to prevent movement.
How did the process of amputation during the Napoleonic Wars differ from modern times?
-Amputation during the Napoleonic Wars was a brutal process that involved using a bone saw to cut through skin, muscle, and bone, often without any anesthesia, leading to extreme pain and high risk of infection or death.
What was the typical procedure for a cesarean section before anesthesia?
-Before anesthesia, a cesarean section involved making a deep incision into the abdomen and uterus to extract the infant, with the woman being fully awake and in horrific pain, often leading to high maternal mortality rates.
How were hemorrhoids treated surgically before modern medicine?
-Surgical treatment for hemorrhoids involved using a sharp blade to cut around the hemorrhoidal masses and then suturing the wounds closed, all while the patient was conscious and experiencing severe pain.
What was the purpose of trepanation in ancient civilizations?
-Trepanation was performed to allow ghosts or supernatural powers to enter or exit the body, often to cure ailments like headaches and convulsions, by drilling or chipping away at the skull.
What was the procedure for a lobotomy and why was it considered inhumane?
-A lobotomy involved severing connections in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, often using metal picks hammered through the eye sockets, causing immense pain and potentially turning the patient into a lifeless husk, which is considered inhumane due to the extreme pain and brain damage.
How did dental extractions differ in the 18th century compared to today?
-In the 18th century, dental extractions were performed by barber-surgeons using crude tools like pliers and forceps, causing extreme pain and often leading to complications like fractured jaws and uncontrolled bleeding.
What was the surgical process for removing a tumor before the era of anesthesia?
-Before anesthesia, removing a tumor involved making incisions around the tumor, digging around the mass to dislodge it, and using hot iron tools to cauterize the wound, all while the patient was fully conscious and feeling every slice.
How were fistula surgeries performed in the early 19th century?
-Fistula surgeries in the early 19th century involved making incisions around the fistula path and peeling away the flesh in a spiral pattern to expose and remove the abnormal connection, causing extreme pain and often leading to dissociation from the agony.
Outlines
🩺 Harrowing Medical Procedures of the Past
This paragraph delves into the grim reality of medical treatments before the advent of modern medicine. It discusses the removal of kidney stones through lithotomy, a procedure that involved the use of rudimentary tools like a lithotomy knife and staff, causing immense pain to the patient. The narrative then shifts to cataract surgery, which was performed without anesthesia, leading to excruciating pain as the surgeon manually removed the cataract. The paragraph also describes the horrors of amputation during the Napoleonic Wars, cesarean sections without anesthesia, and the painful extraction of hemorrhoids. Each procedure is depicted as a torturous ordeal, highlighting the lack of pain management and the crude surgical methods of the time.
🔪 Intense Surgeries of Yore: A Torturous Journey
Paragraph 2 continues the exploration of pre-anesthetic medical procedures, focusing on the brutalities of childbirth via cesarean section, where the decision to save the mother or child was often left to the father. The paragraph vividly describes the process of performing a C-section on a fully conscious woman, including the use of sharp scalpels and the horrifying pain experienced. It also touches on the treatment of hemorrhoids through surgery, which involved cutting and suturing while the patient was awake. The paragraph concludes with a look at trepanation, an ancient practice of drilling holes in the skull to release 'evil spirits,' and lobotomy, a barbaric method of treating mental illnesses by severing brain connections, both of which were performed without any regard for the patient's suffering.
🩲 A Glimpse into the Agonizing World of Historical Surgeries
Paragraph 3 provides a graphic account of various surgical procedures from the past, emphasizing the lack of anesthesia and the immense suffering endured by patients. It covers the removal of breast cancer through mastectomies, where women had to endure the slicing and removal of breast tissue while fully conscious. The paragraph also describes the brutal extraction of teeth by barber-surgeons using pliers-like tools, causing severe pain and potential jaw fractures. The narrative includes the removal of tumors through invasive surgeries, where patients were subjected to hours of cutting and burning without any pain relief. Finally, it touches on fistula surgery, detailing the process of cutting away flesh around abnormal connections, all while the patient was forced to remain still and endure the unbearable agony.
🩼 The Dark Age of Orthopedic Surgery and Its Aftermath
The final paragraph discusses the grim realities of orthopedic surgeries in the past, particularly focusing on the treatment of broken bones. It describes a scenario where a patient with a shattered leg is subjected to a bone-setting procedure without any form of anesthesia. The surgeon uses bone saws and metal clamps, causing the patient to experience unbearable pain as the leg is realigned and the wound cauterized. The paragraph paints a vivid picture of the patient's struggle to remain still amidst the agony, the use of hot irons to close the wound, and the eventual splinting of the limb. It concludes with a reflection on the patient's return home, highlighting the harsh conditions and the lack of medical advancements that made such surgeries a nightmare for those who underwent them.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Lithotomy
💡Anesthesia
💡Cataract
💡Amputation
💡Cesarean Section
💡Hemorrhoidectomy
💡Trepanation
💡Lobotomies
💡Mastectomy
💡Dental Extraction
💡Fistula Surgery
Highlights
In 17th century Europe, kidney stones were treated by traveling lithotomists using lithotomy knives and staffs.
Patients undergoing lithotomy had no anesthesia and were often strapped to tables for the procedure.
Lithotomy involved searching for and extracting kidney stones the size of golf balls through the urethra.
Cataract surgery before anesthesia involved cutting into the lens of the eye with a sharp needle, causing extreme pain.
Amputations in the Napoleonic Wars were done with bone saws, often without any pain relief.
Cesarean sections before anesthesia were performed with the woman awake, tied to a table, and in horrific pain.
Hemorrhoidectomy involved cutting and removing swollen veins in the rectum or anus without any pain relief.
Trepanation, or drilling a hole in the skull, was performed in ancient Peru to release bad spirits causing headaches.
Lobotomy involved hammering metal picks through the eye sockets into the brain to treat mental illnesses.
Mastectomies in the 1800s were done without anesthesia, often resulting in a 50/50 chance of survival.
Dental extractions in the 1700s involved violent pulling of teeth with plier-like tools causing immense pain.
Tumor excision in the early 1800s was done by hacking out the tumor mass while the patient was fully conscious.
Fistula surgery involved cutting away flesh in a spiral pattern around the fistula tube, causing extreme agony.
Orthopedic surgery for broken bones involved bone saws and metal clamps, with patients experiencing intense pain.
Anesthesia has revolutionized surgery, eliminating the need for patients to endure the horrors of pre-anesthetic procedures.
Transcripts
lithotomy if you were unlucky enough to
have kidney stones in 17th century
Europe you would need a traveling
lithotomy think of him as the rock star
of bladder stone removal your only hope
was to seek out a traveling lithotomy a
surgeon specializing in removing bladder
stones where he used things like a
lithotomy knife and a thin rod to go up
your peeing hole known as a lithotomy
staff you'd lie down potentially
strapped to a table as the lithotomy
sized up his workspace no and atics no
pain relief just you him and his narrow
set of instruments that were about to go
up your urethra the tube that you Ed to
pee through they'd make a nice little
incision and go looking around in your
private parts like a kid searching for
Loose Change in the couch cushions
except instead of finding quarters
they'd be yanking out kidney stones the
size of golf balls so you can imagine
the doctor Midway when he gets a large
one had that thing fit in there all
while you're biting down on a leather
strap trying not to scream and if that
weren't enough on they'd sometimes have
to go a step further and enter through
the back door those were the good old
days when put them under meant knocking
you over the head with a mallet or
having you drink unsafe amounts of vodka
until you can't feel a thing once he
managed to locate and dislodge the
stones these tongs and forceps would
come to extract them one fragment at a
time through that narrow urethal tube
it's reported that in most cases this
procedure would make a grown man wish
for the sweet release of of death the
surgery could last hours upon hours all
you could do was remain precariously
still while enduring what equated to the
Pains of childbirth through your urethra
cataract surgery now cataracts are those
annoying cloudy spots in the lenses of
your eye that can interfere with your
vision they form when the proteins in
your lenses start clumping together this
makes it harder for light to pass
through properly so you end up with
blurry vision faded colors and trouble
seeeing at night over time if they get
worse they can really mess with your
ability to see clearly cataracts often
occur with age and can easily be fixed
with modern surgery in about an hour but
unfortunately for many people who got
cataracts before they got old in
pre-anesthesia time the surgery wasn't
pleasant to say the least you'd find
yourself seated chin propped up as a
surgeon loomed before you holding a
slender razor sharp needle or knife now
the instructions were simple do not move
or you'd go blind easy right with your
eye held open by metal speculums the
surgeon would begin the process of
making a cut into the extremely
sensitive eye tissue each millimeter of
Blade cutting would trigger lightning
bolts of searing pain directly into
their brain their bodies were forcibly
restrained as they thrashed in torment
while the surgeon's assistants struggled
to keep their heads still during the
convulsions once the cut was made the
next stage was often to insert the sharp
needle deep into the eyes lens to
dislocate the Cataract now if you were a
surgeon of that era you had to possess
remarkably steady hands and nerves of
Steel to operate unconscious patients
the lack of anesthesia as you can
imagine made cataract surgeries before
the 19th century tremendously agonizing
because someone is literally picking
around your eye with needles but at
least you now had an eye openening
experience amputation let's say you're a
young soldier in the Napoleonic Wars you
take a nasty Cannonball to the leg out
on the battlefield and unfortunately for
you it's shattered Beyond repair your
only hope is getting that limb chopped
off before infection sets in so there
you are lying on an operating table
probably in some dimly lit tent smelling
of blood and pain the surgeon comes over
bone saw in hand and tells you to bite
down on a leather strap or stick and be
a man easy for him to say he would then
use a razor sharp knife or saw to cut
through the skin muscle and bone of the
leg blood loss was also a major issue so
tourniquets were applied extrem
extremely tightly to attempt to stem the
bleeding during the amputation the whole
procedure from the first incision to
complete removal of the leg often took
20 to 30 excruciating minutes from start
to finish after the limb was finally
severed the remaining stump was heated
and cauterized using a red hot iron
Implement to burn the wound closed
survival rates were low as many patients
died from the same injuries that
necessitated amputation or from
subsequent infection or blood loss
survival was a coin toss infection or
blood loss could get you either way
cesarian section let us take a quick
biology lesson to talk about the birds
and the bees now normally women give
birth through the vagina however in some
cases a C-section is needed sometimes
Nature's exit door just isn't big enough
and a little surgical intervention is
required this surgery is usually
necessary if the baby is too large in an
unusual position or if there are
complications like health risk to the
mother those times when the baby decides
to play hide and seek with the birth
canal or show off from acrobatic moves
now some women before anesthesia weren't
as lucky and the decision on whether to
save the baby or the woman went to the
father if the father chose to save the
baby well a live C-section would be
performed the woman is secure to the
table her wrists and ankles bound
tightly to limit movements just a casual
day at the medieval Spa the surgeon
takes up a razor sharp scalpel and leans
over the patient's exposed belly
enlarged with her unborn child then he
begins carving into the flesh hot iron
tools would be on hand to sear bleeding
vessels as the cut was fully extended
retractors and hooks would be used to
peel back and hold open the tissues to
expose the uterus imagine your body
being opened like a biology textbook
except you're wide awake and flipping
the pages isn't optional once visible
the surgeon would make a second deep
incision directly into the uterus and
tissue using the scalpel the sack would
be ruptured and and the infant would be
carefully extracted all while the woman
was awake and in the most horrific pain
you can imagine now because of the blood
loss almost always the mother would die
but at least the father had a new
healthy baby to look forward to
hemorrhoid ectomy another horrible
condition to have before the invention
of modern medicine you see hemorrhoids
are swollen veins in your rectum or anus
that can itch hurt and sometimes bleed
they often happen from straining during
bowel movements or just sitting too long
so let us set the scene you're a patient
Afflicted with severely prolapsed
bleeding hemorrhoids huge veins in the
lower rectum making every movement a new
adventure in pain with a razor sharp
Blade the surgeon begins making the
first Cuts around the hemorrhoidal
masses it doesn't take a genius to
realize that someone with sharp
instruments moving about in your ass is
more than extremely painful but the
patient unfortunately has multiple
hemorrhoids just sitting there as the
surgeon dissects isolates each
individual hemorrhoid blood often poured
literally everywhere involuntary muscle
contractions from the pain made it
difficult for the surgeon to operate
accurately often leading to repeated
cutting motions that made the suffering
worse removing internal hemorrhoids
required operating deeper into the butt
causing Sensations like being repeatedly
impaled after what feels like an
eternity of being repeatedly impaled the
final stage involves suturing the wounds
closed while you're still conscious ouch
trepanation let's talk about a
mindblowing experience literally assume
you're living in ancient Peru Circa
6,500 BC you've been experiencing
splitting headaches and convulsions that
won't stop the medicine man takes one
look at you and says I've got just the
Cure we're going to drill a hole into
that head of yours and get rid of the
bad spirits in certain civilizations
trepanation was thought to allow ghosts
or Supernatural powers to enter or exit
the body to begin the patient's head
would be tightly bound or held in place
as any movement can make the whole
procedure go horribly wrong in some
cases they may have been given wine or
herbal concoctions in an attempt to dull
the paint the surgeon would then take a
sharpened Stone metal tool or even a
flint knife and begin scraping or
chipping away at the skull Peace by
agonizing peace layers of bone would be
removed in a slow meticulous process in
certain cases the entire operation
consisted of drilling a single hole
using a drill-like instrument attached
to a reed or wooden shaft as the drill
bit bored into the skull for The Unlucky
ones the surgery went further large
sections of the skull had to be removed
entirely this may have involved using a
cranial saw to cut a rectangular or
rounded bone flap those who survived the
initial trauma then faced a battle with
infection as open wounds oozed and
throbbed however trep did employ
rudimentary antibacterial remedies like
pepper wine and fungal extracts to
encourage healing feeling labotomy so
basically the idea behind these labotomy
procedures was that severing Connections
in the prefrontal cortex of the brain
would somehow help treat mental
illnesses like schizophrenia well from
our more Humane medical point of view
looking back it's just an insane way to
treat a mental illness kind of like
having to hammer in a door nail so you
carpet bomb the entire house just to
make sure you got it just in case let's
say you're the patient and we're
restrained and completely awake as the
surgeon took these metal picks or levers
and literally hammered them through the
eye sockets towards the brain obviously
the moment those pics made contact with
the brain tissue the patient would just
let out these screams of immense pain
the pics were just slicing and tearing
through the most sensitive areas of the
brain all in an effort to cure the
patient and the surgeons didn't stop
there they kept jamming the pics deeper
into the prefrontal cortex severing
connections all while the patient was
essentially being butchered from the
Inside Out hemorrhaging seizures
convulsions all expected all accounted
for in these operations the craziest
part is they kept going until they
achieved the desired calming effect
which really just meant inflicting
enough brain trauma to potentially turn
the person into a lifeless husk which
was barely effective as now you had
someone who was suffering from
schizophrenia the whole time but
couldn't even complain about it
mastectomy if you were a woman who
discovered a lump in her breast in the
1800s it was often thought to be a sign
of potentially deadly breast cancer back
then there was no way to screen for it
no chemotherapy no radiation treatments
a full mastectomy removal of breast was
the only option to try and stop the
spread in some cases a leather strap or
stick was placed between your teeth to
help muffle the screams of Agony of pain
that were to come with a scalpel or
curved surgical knife the surgeon would
make the first incision slicing through
the skin of your breast as cancer and
the tissue were slowly slowly and
painfully separated from the body the
time came to cut through the chest wall
muscles to remove the cancer fully this
process involving cutting muscle fibers
was perhaps the most excruciatingly
painful part this part of the surgery
could last an hour or more before the
diseased breast tissue was finally
removed leaving the patient in such
horrible pain that she stood a 50/50
chance of dying by the next morning if
she was lucky so now not only did you
lose your boobs but you now had the
chance of dying from an entire list of
infections with names from A to Z cuz
hygiene wasn't that big of an idea back
then Dental extractions unfortunately
you took one too many drinks at the
party hit your mouth at the local pub in
1710 England and were taken to the
barber in front of you is a huge and
beefy looking guy who is the barber
surgeon of the Town a barber who yes
literally does cut hair in his free time
it's just that at the time they also
doubled down as surgeons because they
knew anatomy and his hands a set of
crude scalers hooks scalpel and forceps
the procedure involved the dentist or
practitioner using plier likee tools to
firmly grasp and violently pull the
tooth from its socket in the Jawbone as
the steel instruments clamped down on
the tooth a lot of pain obviously
radiated through the sensitive nerves
and tissues in the area when the pulling
motion began it incited insane pressure
and tearing sensation in the gums tooth
sockets and surrounding bone structure
involuntary movement from the extreme
pain made it difficult for the dentist
to maintain a secure grip often leading
to repeated violent reaching motions
that made the suffering worse bleeding
from the trauma to the soft oral tissue
was hard to control and risked choking
if excess blood drained down the throat
to make it worse because of all the
force used the patients risked having
their jaws literally fractured now
unless you want me to trep inate your
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updates on what to do at home when your
parents aren't looking excision of
tumors so you're living back in the
early 1800s and you've got this tumor
growing on your neck or stomach region
we're talking about a big Mass
protruding out at the time there were no
effective treatments for cancer Beyond
primitive surgery your only hope is to
go under the knife and have this cancer
hacked out entirely now the issue was
that they were literally going to slice
you open and dig out this tumor Mass
while you're fully conscious ious and
feeling every slice you're made to drink
a large amount of alcohol to cope with
the pain then the surgeon starts making
the first Cuts with a sharp scalpel or
those curved surgery knives this time
slicing straight into your skin and
flesh around the tumor's edges the
intense searing Agony hits you instantly
as all those nerve endings get severed
as The Cutting continues the surgeon
digs around the tumor mass and they're
cauterizing the bleeders too by searing
your flesh with these Red Hot Tools
filling the air with a stench of burning
flesh with each tug and tear as they try
to dislodge the tumor you're thrashing
violently against the restraints maybe
they have to call in even more stronger
guys to hold you down at this point
finally after what could be hours of
this sadistic slicing and Excavating the
entire tumor emerges but often they must
make one final lacerating cut to extract
it fully so they must repeat the whole
process again but at least you're cancer
free now fistula surgery a fistula is an
abnormal connection between two parts of
the body like an organ or blood vessel
imagine your body deciding it needs a
few extra doors where there really
shouldn't be any for example it can form
between the intestine and the skin
causing leakage if you were a patient in
the early 19th century Afflicted with a
fistula an abnormal painful pus-filled
Channel burrowing between the rectum and
external skin your only option was to
see a surgeon to fix you up a visit to
the surgeon back then was less medical
Marvel and more horror movie with a
razor sharp scal helpful the surgeon
begins laying open the affected area by
making the first incisions around the
fistula path and here's where it gets
fun for the surgeon at least the surgeon
starts slicing into the area in a spiral
pattern peeling all the flesh away from
the fistula tube it's like trying to
peel an orange with a scalpel but way
more squishy and less vitamin C every
cut every tug bam apparently it's
described as a level of torture where
your mind just dissociates from the
agony imagine your body being so done
with this nonsense that your brain just
says no out of the situation finally
mercifully they finish by cauterizing
the whole area shut with those Red Hot
Irons thanks to Anesthesia we can now do
those repairs without putting people
through such Horrors orthopedic surgery
it was a bizarre accident one wrong step
and a painful crack as your leg shatters
like a twig as you lay on the
Cobblestone pavement waves of nausea
rush over you from the Searing pain that
had swept through your damage leg the
surgeon's Chambers provide little
assistance as two assistants half
carried half dragged you inside and
fastened you to the rickety operating
table sweat went over your eyes as you
examine the collection of bone saws
metal clamps and other instruments you
had heard were used now it was your turn
the surgeon himself entered his
expression confused as to how someone
could break their leg on a staircase as
he examined the bend in the patient's
leg he nodded and motioned for a leather
strap which was then pushed between your
clenched Jaws the initial cut with a
scalpel into your legs sent lightning
bolts of agonizing pain through your
body at one point the surgeon's helper
had to throw his full body weight across
your screaming body to keep you still
the stench of charred flesh engulfed you
as the hot iron dropped cauterizing the
deep wound shut finally the painful
surgery came to an end you slipped in
and out of Consciousness waking to find
your wounded Limbs splinted and clothed
with your new leg hop on back home to
tell the misses of your horrible night
out
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