The early steps of chloroform anaesthesia in Turkey during the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century

Abstract

Objective. - The aim of this study was to research the pioneering steps for the employment of chloroform in Turkey in comparison with the developments in the West i.e. in the United States and in Europe. The development of anaesthesiology in the West started in the first half of the 19th century. As an anaesthetic substance, ether was first employed in a medical operation by R. Liston in December 1846. But taking into consideration of its bronchially irritant effect, British gynaecologist Dr. J.Y. Simpson preferred to utilize chloroform in obstetrical operations in 1847. The paper aims at shedding light on the earlier steps for modern anaesthesiology in Turkey in that sense.