In the spring of 1846 at Massachusetts General Hospital, a young Boston dentist named William Thomas Green Morton was about to change the course of medicine. His discovery of the application of ether as an anesthetic It would allow surgeries to be performed without pain, an advance that would usher in the modern era of surgery. However, in this history of anesthesia, there is an interesting link with Spain and, in particular, with Galicia, a place that also played an important role in its evolution.
1) The problem of pain in surgery
The biggest challenge surgeons faced was how to deal with patients' immense pain until the mid-19th century. Amputations, dental extractions and any type of major surgery were true tests of endurance for those who suffered them. The agony was so severe that some patients died of shock, while others chose to avoid the procedures, even when they could save their lives. Among the attempts to alleviate suffering, experimented with the use of opium, alcohol and nitrous oxide, although its effects were inconsistent. It was then that the dentist William Morton began experimenting with ether, a chemical compound that had been known since the 16th century, but which until then had been used mainly at recreational parties and in small quantities to soothe minor ailments.
1a) Morton's Great Demonstration
On October 16th 1846, Morton performed one of the most important demonstrations in the history of medicine in the surgical amphitheater of Massachusetts General Hospital: successfully anesthetized a patient named Edward Gilbert Abbott., the patient did not utter any cry of pain, remaining motionless and calm during the operation to the surprise of everyone present. At the end of the procedure, the surgeon in charge of the operation, John Collins Warren, uttered a phrase that would be immortalized: "Gentlemen, this is not a hoax", confirming that anesthesia was a reality.
The First Operation Under Ether - Robert Hinclkey
2) The arrival of anesthesia in Spain
The discovery of the anesthetic ether quickly crossed the Atlantic Ocean and it was not long before European surgeons began experimenting with its use. In Spain, anesthesia arrived thanks to scientific exchanges and communications that flowed between the medical communities of Europe. One of the first places where a surgical intervention was performed with ether in the San Carlos hospital in Madrid, in 1847, just a few months after W. Morton's demonstration in the United States.
2a) The use of anesthesia in Galicia
Always connected to the sea and the world through its ports, Galicia was one of the regions that most quickly adopted European medical innovations. The Faculty of Medicine of Santiago de Compostela was a point of reference in the introduction of scientific advances and it did not take long for them to carry out the first tests with anesthesia. There is evidence that ether was used to anesthetize a patient who was to undergo dental surgery at the Royal Hospital of Santiago in 1848. The interesting thing is that Santiago de Compostela was a place where dentistry and surgical medicine were closely linked. The first dentists in Galicia began applying anesthesia in dental extractions shortly after its introduction in the United States.
2b) The chloroform discover and the Spanish controversy
However, ether anesthesia was not the only option that arrived in Spain. Barely a year after Morton's demonstration, Chloroform was discovered by Dr. James Young Simpson in Edinburgh in 1847. In Spain, doctors began to debate which of the two agents was safer and more effective; Galicia was also part of this debate. It is known that doctors began experimenting with chloroform from the 1850s in hospitals in A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela. Although chloroform gained popularity because it caused less irritation in patients than ether, ether continued to be used, especially in longer and more complex operations, where the depth of anesthesia was crucial.
2c) Pagés and the development of epidurals in Spain
One of the most prominent medical figures in the evolution of anesthesia in Spain was the Dr. Fidel Pagés Miravé, a military surgeon who had a significant impact for having developed epidural anesthesia. Pagés made his discovery in 1921, while serving as a military doctor in Melilla. Although his work came well after the discovery of ether, the epidural represented an important step in anesthesia, as it offered an alternative for procedures that did not require general anesthesia. The importance of epidural anesthesia lies in its ability to block pain in a specific region of the body without the need to induce a state of total unconsciousness. This advance was crucial for obstetric procedures and operations on the lower extremities. Although Pagés died in 1923 in a car accident and his contribution was not recognized internationally until much later, his discovery continues to be used throughout the world today.
2d) The legacy of ether in Spain and Galicia
Today, the history of ether and anesthesia in Spain is recognized as one of the most important medical milestones of the 19th century. Galicia, with its medical tradition in Santiago de Compostela and its connection through ports with America and Europe, played a crucial role in the rapid adoption of these advances. While Morton fought to obtain the recognition he deserved in the United States, Europe, and particularly in Spain, anesthesia expanded and saved lives, echoing his legacy. The introduction of anesthesia in Galicia, linked to advances in dentistry and surgery, connects symbolically with Morton's feat in Boston. Although separated by the Atlantic Ocean, these episodes are united by a common goal: to alleviate human suffering, uniting the two regions in a historic fight against pain.
