Beyond Ether Day: Betsey Magoun, The Forgotten Patient

Abstract

Although the analgesic effects of ether were conclusively established during a series of public demonstrations of anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1846, ether anesthesia was neither immediately nor universally introduced into practice. Betsey Magoun, the fourth patient undergoing surgery under anesthesia at the hospital, suffered life-threatening hypoxia and respiratory complications. Severe intraoperative problems witnessed by large audience may have contributed to the cautious introduction of anesthesia into routine practice. Ether inhalation was not commonly used until more effective methods of induction and maintenance of anesthesia were discovered.