anaesthesia or anesthesia

Term: Anaesthesia or anesthesia

James Young  Simpson (1811-1870),
Origin:  An Greek αν/an(=without) + αίσθηση/esthisis(=feeling) à loss of feeling

Coined: in 1848 by Scottish Obstetrician James Young  Simpson (1811-1870), who had used  diethyl ether in Edinburgh to relieve labour pains and later he discovered the surgical uses of chloroform. The plaque dedicated to James Simpson in Westminster Abbey reads:
"To whose genius and benevolence
The world owes the blessings derived
From the use of chloroform for
The relief of suffering
Laus Deo"


Definition:
Local or general insensibility to pain, induced by an anesthetic drug. General anesthesia, results in a temporary loss of consciousness and regional or local anesthesia affects sensation only a in a part of the body

1 comment:

  1. AnonymousMay 30, 2012 at 3:48 AM

    Previously (1846) 'coined' by O. Wendell Holmes writing to W.T.G Morten (most common attribution, although Holmes acknowledged use by Linnaeus and Cullen. Word also used by ancient writer Dioscorides, to denote state similar to modern 'anaesthesia'

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