ANESTHESIA DELIVERY AND DEVICE TIMELINE
In the beginning, anesthesia delivery had been traditionally been administered in dental
surgical procedures by way of a cloth and Analgesic drugs that would reduce sensory, motor and sympathetic nerve transmissions at the level o f the brain, resulting in lack
of sensation (unconsciousness). Afterward, anesthesia equipment became a wide spread
means of delivery for anesthesia using simple pneumatic devices. Where did it all begin? At
present, scientists and other scholars are working hard tracing back ancient writings of the
ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Chinese that
mentioned “general anesthesia” throughout recorded history. In 3400 BC, Sumerians cultivated and harvested the opium poppy. Prior to the introduction of opium (400 BC) ancient
India and China civilizations pioneered the use of cannabis, incense and aconitum, a dark,
poisonous, green leaf, to be used in the traditional Chinese medicine in very low dosages of
course. Soon after, the Sumerians realized the poppy’s analgesic effects and then passed
this knowledge onto the Babylonians (2225 BC). Afterward, these primitive people would
stretch out their empire and this knowledge eastwards into Persia. In the end, Arab traders
continued travelling westward into Egypt moving along into the remaining trade routes
spreading this valuable information.
Next in 1540, ether, a colorless, volatile liquid1, C4 H10 O, and having a sweet odor resulting from ethyl alcohol were becoming popular as an inhalant anesthetic. 4 In fact, ether was
the first man-made anesthesia drug and it was invented by Valerius Cordus2 , a German botanist and chemist. Valerius would call his new discovery the "sweet oil of vitriol". Moving
along, in 1772, Joseph Priestly, an English philosopher and scientist, discovered oxygen as
well as 10 other well-known gases to include nitrous oxide, N2O, that would later become
commonly called “laughing gas” which he used in dental surgery.3 This drug had minimal
systemic effects on patients’ physiology and behavior such as, respiration, blood pressure,
and heart rate making it the ideal, safe, and effective drug of choice during that era. In
1885, cocaine, C17H21NO4, was introduced into the anesthesia classification and then Thiopental (1930s) commonly called Sodium Pentothal, C11H17N2NaO2S would become next to
induce anesthesia to patients. In fact, Sodium Pentothal is thought to still be used by FBI
interrogators as a “truth serum” agent. Well, is it? Subsequently in 1842, became the earliest
clinical case recording of anesthesia used and has been attributed to Dr. Crawford W.
Long3. Shortly after, in 1846 was when anesthesia really became publically known along
with the help from Dr. William Morton. Dr. Morton invented the first anesthesia device called
the “Ether Inhaler.” (Fig. 1 and 2)
After the ether inhaler, other makes and models followed by other great inventors such
as, Bellamy Gardner, Joseph Thomas Clover, F.P. de Caux, and more7 began engineering