When Lister began his work surgery was not very safe for the patients that under went the procedures. The mortality rate when he first began operating was about fifty percent with many deaths resulting from infections. Hospitals were not the most sanitary places and often filled with germs. Diseases that were mostly present in hospitals were septicemia, gangrene, erysipelas, and pyemia. Septicemia is bacteria in the blood that often occurs with severe infections and has a death rate of more than 50%. Erysipelas is a skin infection that is accompanied with blisters and is caused by A Streptococcus bacteria. Pyemia was a type of septicemia that caused abscesses in various organs. The most difficult surgery to perform was on a compound fracture. A compound fracture is when a bone is fractured and protrudes from the skin. This injury caused many deaths due to the high risk of infection. Lister began to earn more and more respect when he began working on fractured patellas when he was the chair of surgery at Kings College.
Lister began to try to make hospitals safer and cleaner to minimize infection and deaths. His first work involved the coagulation of blood which helped reduce swelling and inflammation. He would soon discover that by keeping areas clean and sanitized that the risk of infection was reduced. On top of that he made the discovery that infections were not caused by chemical reactions but by tiny organisms in the air. These organisms were germs and bacteria. Right around the same time Carbolic Acid was starting to be used to remove the odors from sewage. Lister thought it’d be a good idea to experiment on humans and it turns out it was. He used it to clean surgical tools, wounds, and dressings that were placed on the wounds. Lister found that this significantly reduced the risk of infection. The only side-effect was burns on the patient's skin. He also began to wash his hands before and after surgery with 5% carbolic acid. On top of this he ordered all surgeons to wear clean gloves when operating or working with a patient. Through his work he became known as The Father of Modern Surgery and The Father of Antisepsis.
Lister began to try to make hospitals safer and cleaner to minimize infection and deaths. His first work involved the coagulation of blood which helped reduce swelling and inflammation. He would soon discover that by keeping areas clean and sanitized that the risk of infection was reduced. On top of that he made the discovery that infections were not caused by chemical reactions but by tiny organisms in the air. These organisms were germs and bacteria. Right around the same time Carbolic Acid was starting to be used to remove the odors from sewage. Lister thought it’d be a good idea to experiment on humans and it turns out it was. He used it to clean surgical tools, wounds, and dressings that were placed on the wounds. Lister found that this significantly reduced the risk of infection. The only side-effect was burns on the patient's skin. He also began to wash his hands before and after surgery with 5% carbolic acid. On top of this he ordered all surgeons to wear clean gloves when operating or working with a patient. Through his work he became known as The Father of Modern Surgery and The Father of Antisepsis.