Joseph Lister

Joseph Lister (1827-1912) was not a man accustomed to failure. He was a bright student who learned medicine at University College in London and graduated with honors. By 1861, Lister was happily married, a successful surgeon and in charge of a new surgical hospital in Glasgow. This hospital had a special purpose. At the time, as many as half of all surgeries ended in death. Though many procedures were successful, the patients later succumbed to "hospital disease" and "blood poisoning" – diseases we now know as infections. The builders hoped the new hospital would decrease the death rate. But, to Lister’s frustration, roughly half of the patients in some wards still died of sepsis.

Neither Lister nor anyone else knew why patients were dying. The prevalent theory was that sepsis was due to bad air. Surgeons tried to keep disease at bay by wrapping their patients’ wounds tightly with plasters and resins. Lister was skeptical. He thought the culprit might actually be some sort of particle in the air. At first, he could think of no way to defeat this dangerous "dust." But he was observant and kept current with medical news. He read Louis Pasteur’s reports on fermentation and his suspicions that microorganisms from the air caused decay. Lister probably also heard about Ignaz Semmelweis and his efforts to control childbed fever with disinfectants. Then Lister read an interesting account of carbolic acid (phenol) being used to kill parasites in sewage. When he put these ideas together, Lister started to wonder whether microbes in the air were causing surgical infections. He decided to see whether carbolic acid could help.

Lister soaked bandages in carbolic acid before putting them on wounds and sprayed carbolic acid into the air during his surgeries. His first patient died of infection nevertheless, but Lister modified his technique and tried again. This time, he met with success. In 1867, Lister sent a paper to the British medical journal the Lancet describing how his carbolic acid treatment had reduced the death rate after surgeries from 45% to 9%.

Lister’s colleagues were not quick to accept his discovery - particularly not when it came from a surgeon in the backwater of Glasgow. Their reactions ranged from skepticism and indifference to outright hostility. It took time for acceptance to grow but Lister was persistent and, slowly, his methods spread. In 1877, a widely-publicized demonstration in London finally convinced many of the remaining skeptics. Lister attempted an often-fatal operation - wiring a broken kneecap – and used his carbolic acid disinfection to prevent infection. To the surprise of many, the patient lived. Even the skeptics began to change their minds and the death rate from surgery dropped dramatically. Though he was showered with honors, Lister continued to practice medicine until 1893. He also maintained his interest in science and served as president of the famous Royal Society for a few years. Lister died in 1912, at the age of 84.

Gardner, Brian. Joseph Lister and antiseptic surgery. Available at: http://web.ukonline.co.uk/b.gardner/Lister.html Accessed September 22, 2000.

Alcamo, I Edward. Fundamentals of Microbiology. Menlo Park, CA: Addison Wesley Longman; 1997: 671.