A brief history of anaesthesia and surgery of the heart and great vessels

Cardiac Anaesthesia

“…Anaesthesia improved slowly, and did not achieve its own identity as a specific branch of medicine for many years; thus, it was administered by either surgeons or nurses ( Fig. 14.2) [1][2][3][4]. Only later did it 2 Anaesthesia was performed by nurses and surgeons: anaesthesia was far from becoming a subspecialty become a medical specialty.…”

“…Anaesthesia was developed in the middle of the 19th century with the discovery of the anaesthetic effects of nitrous oxide, ether and chloroform [1]. Ether and chloroform were used for many years to induce unconsciousness and relieve pain during surgery ( Fig.…”

“…The introduction of curare in 1942 and halothane in 1956 improved anaesthesia [1,7]. The use of curare for muscle relaxation allowed for a lighter plane of anaesthesia with less haemodynamic impairment, especially during the induction of anaesthesia and endotracheal intubation.…”

“…Papers that were published between 1951 and 1955 regarding the first interventions for heart valve diseases recommended the use of very light anaesthesia to reduce cardiac depression that would occur at the induction of anaesthesia. Some authors reported beneficial effects provided by the associations between different anaesthetic drugs, while others adopted extreme measures to decrease the haemodynamic effects of anaesthesia, such as providing a mild sedation that left the patients almost awake during the operation [1,[6][7][8][9].…”