The advent of anesthesia was a revolutionary turning point in medical history. We examine the development of anesthesia, which went beyond simple pain relief to enhance surgical precision and improve patients’ quality of life.
From ancient medicine to modern medicine, countless advancements have occurred throughout medical history, but anesthesia stands out as one of the most dazzling developments. Medicine is progressively evolving from a physician-centered system to a patient-centered one, shifting from medicine as science to medicine as art. Anesthesia can be considered the starting point of this transformation. What distinguishes anesthesiology from other medical fields is that it does not aim to treat a specific disease; rather, it promotes patient comfort as a means to facilitate surgery. In other words, anesthesia itself is not the goal, but a tool for surgery. Therefore, while anesthesia is not essential in technology-centered medicine, it plays a more crucial role than any other medical skill in patient-centered modern medicine.
The importance of anesthesia extends far beyond merely eliminating pain during surgery. It significantly enhances the patient’s overall experience before and after surgery and plays a vital role in maintaining physiological stability during the procedure. Through anesthesia, patients avoid unnecessary stress during surgery, positively impacting their recovery speed and outcomes. Furthermore, advances in anesthetic techniques have enabled complex surgeries, making it possible to successfully perform various procedures that were once impossible.
Let’s briefly review the history of anesthesiology, which has attained such an important status, and examine the types of anesthesia currently in use.
In films set in the Middle Ages, scenes depicting surgery performed with the aid of alcohol to treat wounds can be seen. While it’s unclear whether these methods can be classified as anesthesia, the first recorded instance of painless surgery using general anesthesia was performed by William Morton in 1846. Starting in the late 18th century, physicians began exploring whether inhaling gaseous substances could induce changes in the human body and began studying the physiological effects of various gases. As a result of this research, physicians discovered that substances like nitrous oxide and ether possessed anesthetic effects. Previously, surgeries were limited in their precision and duration due to the need to consider the patient’s pain. However, the discovery of general anesthesia allowed surgical procedures to advance rapidly.
William Morton’s discovery of general anesthesia brought a major innovation to the medical field, signifying significant change not only in the technical aspects of surgery but also in its ethical dimensions. Reducing patient suffering during surgery is not merely a technical issue but one related to human dignity; thus, the advancement of anesthesia greatly contributed to raising the ethical standards of medicine.
As many people know, anesthesia is broadly categorized into general anesthesia and regional anesthesia. General anesthesia eliminates pain by rendering the patient unconscious, achieved by administering various anesthetic agents to the central nervous system. Depending on the administration method, it is further divided into inhalation anesthesia and intravenous anesthesia. Inhalation anesthesia involves inhaling a gas, while intravenous anesthesia is an invasive method where anesthetics are directly injected into the bloodstream.
Regional anesthesia blocks only the nerve pathways to eliminate pain in the desired area without causing loss of consciousness. While the patient remains awake, which may reduce psychological comfort, it offers the advantages of less postoperative pain and fewer side effects compared to general anesthesia. Regional anesthesia is further categorized based on the site of administration: spinal anesthesia, epidural anesthesia, and local anesthesia. Spinal anesthesia involves injecting anesthetic near the spinal cord to block pain in the lower body, primarily used for lower abdominal and lower limb surgeries. Epidural anesthesia involves injecting anesthetic into the epidural space around the spine, mainly used for pain relief during childbirth. Local anesthesia numbs only a specific area of the body and is widely used for minor surgical procedures and dental treatments.
In 2002, the Department of Anesthesiology in Korea was renamed the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine. This reflects the expansion of anesthesiology from its narrow meaning as ‘methods to reduce pain during surgery’ to its broader meaning encompassing ‘all aspects of human pain and its related issues’. Recently, chronic pain has also entered the scope of anesthesiology, alongside localized and temporary pain. This demonstrates that anesthesia can serve as an alternative when the cause of pain cannot be permanently eliminated. Furthermore, anesthesiology and pain medicine plays a vital role in diverse fields, including pre- and post-operative patient care, critical care, and pain management. These changes indicate that anesthesia is evolving beyond merely eliminating pain during surgery, now focusing on enhancing the patient’s overall health and quality of life.
As long as humans require medicine, the importance of anesthesiology will not fade. Anesthesia, which was the first step toward patient-centered medicine, will remain one of the most vital fields in medicine. The advancement of anesthesia parallels the overall progress of medicine and will continue to play a pivotal role in providing better healthcare services to patients.
