Ether Dome
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Ether Dome, Massachusetts General Hospital | |
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The inside of the dome as viewed from the surgical theatre. | |
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| Location | Boston, Massachusetts |
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| Coordinates | 42°21′48.70″N 71°4′4.30″W / 42.3635278°N 71.0678611°WCoordinates: 42°21′48.70″N 71°4′4.30″W / 42.3635278°N 71.0678611°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1846 |
| Architect | Charles Bulfinch; George Perkins; Alexander Parris |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| Governing body | Private |
| NRHP Reference # | 66000366[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | January 12, 1965[2] |
The Ether Dome is a surgical operating amphitheater in the Bulfinch Building at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. It served as the hospital's operating room from its opening in 1821 until 1867. It was the site of the first public demonstration of the use of inhaled ether as a surgical anesthetic on 16 October 1846. Crawford Long, a surgeon in Georgia, had previously administered sulfuric ether in 1842, but this went unpublished until 1849.[3][4] The Ether Dome event occurred when William Thomas Green Morton, a local dentist, used ether to anesthetize Edward Gilbert Abbott. John Collins Warren, the first dean of Harvard Medical School, then painlessly removed part of a tumor from Abbott's neck. After Warren had finished, and Abbott regained consciousness, Warren asked the patient how he felt. Reportedly, Abbott said, "Feels as if my neck's been scratched". Warren then turned to his medical audience and uttered "Gentlemen, this is no Humbug".[5][6] This was presumably a reference to the unsuccessful demonstration of nitrous oxide anesthesia by Horace Wells in the same theater the previous year, which was ended by cries of "Humbug!" after the patient groaned with pain.[7]
Today, the Ether Dome is actively used for daily medical conferences and presentations. When not in use, it is open to the public. There is a contemporary recreation of the historic event by Warren and Lucia Prosperi seen in the Ether Dome. In addition, there is a mummy and authentic surgical instruments in cases. The mummy was recently studied by CAT scan.[8] The Ether Dome is listed as a National Historic Landmark.[9]
Gallery
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Inside the Ether Dome
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Outside view as photographed from the grounds
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Operating theater tiered seating under the dome
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Apollo statue by the entrance
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Operating theater and seating
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The Bulfinch Building: State of the Art from the Start
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The MGH Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine traces its roots back to the October 16, 1846 public demonstration of medical ether.
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See also
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Boston
- National Register of Historic Places listings in northern Boston, Massachusetts
References
- ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2010-07-09.
- ↑ "Ether Dome, Massachusetts General Hospital". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- ↑ Madden, M. Leslie (May 14, 2004). "Crawford Long (1815-1878)". New Georgia Encylcopedia. University of Georgia Press. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Crawford W. Long". Doctors' Day. Southern Medical Association. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
- ↑ Fenster, J. M. (2001). Ether Day: The Strange Tale of America's Greatest Medical Discovery and the Haunted Men Who Made It. New York, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-019523-6.
- ↑ The Roots of Critical Care, Jennifer Nejman Bohonak, Massachusetts General Hospital Magazine, 2011
- ↑ "Horace Wells". Retrieved 2010-11-02.
- ↑ http://www.bostonglobe.com/2013/03/06/mummy-gets-scan-mgh/XsWR7eqweBg61bI0TLmW6N/story.html
- ↑ "National Historic Landmarks Program: Ether Dome, Massachusetts General Hospital". Retrieved 2007-06-25.
External links
- The Ether Dome: The restoration of an icon
- Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care: Our Story
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