Joseph Lister (1827-1912): A Pioneer of Antiseptic Surgery

Abstract

Joseph Lister was a prominent British surgeon and medical scientist who established the study of antisepsis. Applying Louis Pasteur's germ theory of fermentation on wound putrefaction, he promoted the idea of sterilization in surgery using carbolic acid (phenol) as an antiseptic. His method reduced the incidence of wound sepsis and gangrene, which, in turn, reduced the need for amputation. By showing how germs could be prevented from entering the wound, Lister increased the safety of surgical operations and laid the foundations for all subsequent advances in the field.

Keywords: carbolic acid; louis pasteur; microorganisms; spontaneous generation; sterilization; ­wound healing.

Figure 1. Lister, Joseph, Baron, 1827-1912.

Credit: Permission obtained from Wellcome Collection. The collected papers of Joseph, Baron Lister.

Figure 2. Joseph Lister, Baron Lister acclaims Louis Pasteur at Pasteur’s Jubilee, Paris, 1892. Photograph after a painting by Jean-André Rixens.

Credit: Permission obtained from Wellcome Collection.

Figure 3. The antiseptic system in practice in an operating room. In: Antiseptic surgery. Its principles, practice, history, and results by William Watson Cheyne (1882).

Credit: Permission obtained from Wellcome Collection.

Figure 4. Donkey engine used by Joseph Lister. Photograph, 1927.

Credit: Permission obtained from Wellcome Collection.

Figure 5. The Lister carbolic spray.

Credit: Permission obtained from Wellcome Collection.