▲ 34 r/AskHistorians
When there’s been documented examples of general anesthesia throughout history, why do historical records of so many surgeries seem to all emphasize that you’d be going into it fully conscious?
From basic alcohol to mandrake and poppy extracts, it seems that at least for a few thousand years there’s been options - bad options (horrifically bad compared to what we have today) but at least options for general anesthesia during surgery. Why then is the picture we have of surgery before modern anesthetic almost completely shaped by images of having to hold screaming people down while the surgeon worked as fast as possible?
Do we just remember/tell stories about those operations without anesthetic? Was it only for the wealthiest in society?
u/Lancashire_Toreador — 5 hours ago