The "Lancet" publishes the first of a series of articles by Doctor Joseph Lister on March 16, 1867; outlining the discovery of antiseptic surgery. Lister was a prominent British surgeon and medical scientist who established the study of antisepsis by applying Louis Pasteur's germ theory of fermentation on wound putrefaction.
He promoted the idea of sterilization in surgery using carbolic acid (phenol) as an antiseptic. Lister had performed the first antiseptic surgery on August 12, 1865. Before the methods promoted by Lister, mortality rates for major operations were roughly 45-50%; dropping to approximately 15% following the introduction of his antiseptic system in his wards at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. Despite the demonstrated results, Lister faced significant skepticism from the medical community for years, with critics arguing his methods were too complex and "fussy". However, his work eventually laid the foundation for modern sterile (aseptic) surgery. More
