IMMUNOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Joseph Lister found a way to prevent infection in wounds during and after surgery. He was the first to apply the science of Germ Theory to surgery. Lister’s Antisepsis System is the basis of modern infection control. His principles made surgery safe and continue to save countless lives.

Detailed explanation-2: -Joseph Lister is one of the pioneers of Infection Control. Not only did he reduce the incidence of wound infection (usually fatal pre-Lister) by the introduction of antiseptic surgery using carbolic acid, but also he was the first to apply Pasteur’s principles to humans.

Detailed explanation-3: -Sir Joseph Lister applied Pasteur’s research to surgery. Lister used carbolic acid as a disinfectant for the surgeon’s hands, the instruments and dressings, and sprayed a mist of carbolic acid throughout the operating room. An example of the type of carbolic acid sprayer that would have been used by Sir Joseph Lister.

Detailed explanation-4: -The development of the antiseptic system by Joseph Lister, Professor of Clinical Surgery at King’s between 1877 and 1893, strikingly changed this outlook for patients.

Detailed explanation-5: -He found an effective antiseptic in carbolic acid, which had already been used as a means of cleansing foul-smelling sewers and had been empirically advised as a wound dressing in 1863. Lister first successfully used his new method on August 12, 1865; in March 1867 he published a series of cases.

Detailed explanation-6: -He developed antiseptic surgery by spraying medical instruments, catgut and bandages with a 1-in-20 solution of carbolic acid. As always there was some opposition. Many surgeons claimed that Lister’s antiseptic methods slowed things, at a time when speed was still essential because of blood loss.

Detailed explanation-7: -Joseph Lister was a remarkable British surgeon who pioneered principles of antisepsis. He died 100 years ago after devoting his life to developing and promoting safe, antiseptic surgery.