Abstract PR009
2016; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 123; Linguagem: Inglês
10.1213/01.ane.0000492420.96411.5f
ISSN1526-7598
Autores Tópico(s)Medical History and Innovations
ResumoBackground & Objectives: Dr Norman Bethune travelled to China in January 1938. By March, Mao Tse-tung had agreed to Bethune’s plan for a mobile operating unit that he felt would save the lives of 75% of those injured at the battlefront. Dr Bethune performed hundreds of surgeries upon injured soldiers until his death from septicemia on November 12, 1939. This study will examine the administration and availability of anesthesia during Dr. Bethune’s 18 months in China. Materials & Methods: A search was conducted to retrieve English language literature related to Dr Bethune’s time in China. These sources were reviewed for any referral to anesthesia. Roderick and Sharon Stewart1 and Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson2, authors of two of Dr Bethune’s biographies, were contacted for possible additional sources of information. Results: Dr Bethune’s knowledge of anesthesia enabled him to train his interpreter Tung Yueh Chian “in the realistic setting of the operating room the art of anesthesia” while in Yenan before setting out for the battlefield with his mobile operating unit. 3 The demands were sometimes too much even for the 23 year old much younger interpreter who on one occasion “at the fiftieth operation, after standing on his feet and administering anesthetics for 24 hours” “managed to last out the operation, then sat down on the floor”.3 Dr Bethune’s December 8, 1938 letter to Dr Ma mentions his concern that “There remains 2 ½ lbs. of Chloroform. After that is finished we will operate without anesthetics”. Later, his report of July 1, 1939 states that of the 115 operations performed over a 69 hour period, “fifteen operations were performed without anesthetic as we ran out of chloroform”. Roderick Stewart’s interview of Jane Ewan, a nurse who had worked with Dr Bethune in China, related that when ran out of morphine tablets “Bethune substituted opium dissolved in Chinese whiskey as an anaesthetic, which worked remarkably well.”1 On the fateful day upon which Dr Bethune was rushing to operate on as many casualties as possible while the enemy forces grew closer, cut his ungloved finger for what was to be the last time, there may have been a shortage of anesthetics or time to administer a general anesthetic. (Figure 1).5Conclusion: Both a shortage of trained individuals to administer anesthesia and anesthetics themselves were among the many challenges Dr Norman Bethune faced while operating on casualties during his work in China. References: 1. Stewart R, Stewart S. Phoenix The Life of Norman Bethune. Montreal & Kingston: McGill Queen’s University Press;2011. 2. Clarkson A. Norman Bethune. Toronto: Penguin Canada;2009. 3. Allan T, Gordon S. The Scalpel, the Sword The Story of Dr. Norman Bethune. Boston: Little, Brown and Company;1952. 4. Stewart R. The Mind of Norman Bethune. Toronto: Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited;1977. 5. Adapted by Chung Chih-Cheng. Norman Bethune in China. Peking: Foreign Languages Press;1975. Disclosure of Interest: None declared
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