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The British Sector of the Western Front, 1914–18: Injuries, Treatment and the Trenches

Medicine in the early twentieth century

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 1

Overview

Pasteur's germ theory of 1861, Lister's carbolic acid of 1865, antiseptic and aseptic surgery, sterilisation by 1900, Röntgen's x-rays of 1895 and their dangers, failed transfusions, Landsteiner's blood groups of 1901, and how the clotting problem was overcome.

What you need to know

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Numbers

How did germ theory, antiseptic surgery and aseptic methods change operating theatres before 1914?

Numbers

Whose work established that microbes cause disease, and when was it published?

Key term

What did Joseph Lister introduce into the operating theatre in 1865?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Whose work established that microbes cause disease, and when was it published?

    Model answer

    Louis Pasteur's germ theory, published in 1861, which showed that microbes in the air cause decay and disease.

  2. 2

    What did Joseph Lister introduce into the operating theatre in 1865?

    Model answer

    Carbolic acid as an antiseptic, sprayed onto the wound and the instruments to kill germs during surgery.

  3. 3

    What is the difference between antiseptic and aseptic surgery?

    Model answer

    Antiseptic surgery kills the germs already present in the wound, while aseptic surgery keeps them out altogether by sterilising everything beforehand.

  4. 4

    What had surgeons started doing by 1900 to keep germs out of operations?

    Model answer

    Instruments were steam-sterilised, theatres were scrubbed and ventilated, and surgeons wore sterilised gowns, caps, masks and rubber gloves.

  5. 5

    Who discovered x-rays, and in what year?

    Model answer

    Wilhelm Röntgen, in 1895, and within a year hospitals were using x-rays to find broken bones and bullets.

  6. 6

    What were the dangers of the early x-ray machines?

    Model answer

    Exposures lasted several minutes, and repeated use burned the skin and caused hair loss and worse for the operators.

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