THE CIVIL WAR: HOW A SURGEON PRACTICED MEDICINE

[@davidkurle5418]

Many thanks to the Doc for the tour! Cheers, buddy!

[@jeremyspaulding7735]

Very interesting! Great video 👍

[@singingtoad]

Thanks for sharing about this cool Civil War era reenactment field hospital; it sure makes you appreciate modern medical practices. 😲👍Take care my friend and Cheers!

[@Seppiedog]

That was interesting, those surgeon's tools looked rough. Thanks for sharing Tom. Be safe

[@MakesMeNoDifference-sd9qg]

Very informative - thanks

[@KnifeChatswithTobias]

Sanitation improved as the war progressed. Most doctors did have a concept of cleanliness but it was hard to keep things clean when overworked and while working in what amounted to an open open cesspool of germs. Outdoor tents had the ground turning to mud with blood. And indoor buildings weren't much better. Carpets or even barewood floor would be soaked in blood. Surgeons really didn't have protective gear. The The apron was there to protect the surgeon's clothes. Same for sleeve covers. And surgical gloves didn't exist so surgery was done barehanded. The best you could do was wipe down the table and wipe of the tables in between surgeries. When removing an arm or a leg, the surgeon would cut the limb to the bone with a large razor sharp knife and, when possible leave a flap of skin and muscle to cover what would become a cover for the stump. They would then have to push the tissue up and pull the bone out as much as possible, have people hold the bone in place and cut it off. Then it was time to try and rinse the amputated area with hopefully clean water to remove any of the bone fragments. Then it was time to sew up the flap. While they tried to use clean gut, the entire operating theater was open to flies. and all means of cross contamination. However, the biggest cause of infection was the clean of clean bandages. Many surgeons knew that the bandages needed to changed when the blood soaked through, but the lack of trained orderlies resulted in minimal post-operative care. With all that said, the state of medicine improved dramatically over the span of the American Civil War. Your chances of recovering from an amputation near the end of the war were much better than at the beginning. For instance your odds of surviving an above the knee amputated was less than 10% before the Civil War. By the end of the Civil War it was closer to 50/50!

[@LastChanceKnives]

It's really interesting just how primitive and unsanitary surgery was back then. They did the best they could with the knowledge that they had at the time.

[@terrillschneider3778]

I’m in the hospital and receiving the best of care but am taking a sabbatical from KZbin and instagram Hope to talk to you soon Tom

[@NorthStarKnifeReviews]

Very interesting! You should get a set of those tools for Junior!!! 🫢