Treating War's Wounds: Innovations in Medicine from the Civil War
Pain Management and Embalming
The Ether Mask and Pain Management
The use of general anesthetic was common during the Civil War. Among the most frequently used drugs to treat pain were chloroform, ether, opium and alcohol. Official records of the Union Army indicate that more than 80 tons of opium were prescribed during the war, though at times surgeons ran out due to problems with communication and supply.
| Chloroform and ether, found after the war to be toxic, were frequently used to render a patient unconscious prior to surgery. To help the patient more easily breathe the anesthetic, an ether-soaked cloth would be placed in a metal mask and held over the patient's nose and mouth. Because most surgeries at the time were brief, there was little time for the toxicity of these drugs to build to a dangerous level. In an effort to dispel the anesthetic, post-operative patients were removed from the hospital tent, or fanned to "purge" the lungs of the substance.
Such widespread use of anesthetics, and the detailed medical records that emerged from their use led to an improved understanding of pain management among practitioners of medicine. |
12. Ether Mask
circa 1860
Gift of Robert M. Collison MD |
Early Injecting Syringe
The need to alleviate pain led to advances in ways of administering medicines, especially morphine and opium. These drugs had previously been given by mouth or applied topically to the site of the wound. Introduced during the Civil War, Wood's endermic syringe allowed surgeons to deliver drugs more effectively, close to the wound and just beneath a patient's skin.
13. Early Injecting Syringe
circa 1860
Courtesy of the UI College of Medicine
14. Embalming Bottle
circa 1850
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Lee Templeton and son David |
Embalming
The requests of families to have the bodies of their loved ones transported home for proper memorial services made it necessary for a system of preservation to be developed. Using creosote or chloride of zinc dissolved in alcohol, the embalming surgeon would inject these fluids into the femoral artery of the deceased to prevent the body from decomposing. It was also customary to transport bodies in metallic burial cases, or heavy wooden boxes lined with zinc plates to maintain the integrity of the corpse. Public pressure demanded the ascendancy of the profession of mortuary science. |
15. Chloroform and Iodoform Bottles
circa 1860
Courtesy of the UI College of Medicine
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