Our practice awareness with volatile gases and vapours.

The distinctive aroma that once identified hospitals is reminiscent of the days of using open ether anaesthesia. Throughout this period the risk of explosions posed a very real threat to operating theatres, and the attention to safety produced the means of maintaining security for clinical practitioners; moreover protecting the vulnerability of the unconscious patient. The creation of the Davy lamp in 1815 was to spark our continual awareness regarding the impact of gas and chemical pollution.

Da Vinci's codex and the anatomy of healthcare.

We usually display a laid-back approach to medical jargon throughout our theatre work. The word 'perioperative' is built from the Greek word 'peri' (around) and the Latin 'operari' (to work). Latin and Greek became the prefixed language of choice for Leonardo da Vinci, and his research was pivotal in determining the way in which surgical procedures are documented. Ancient manuscripts aided the unfolding of the secrets of anatomy, and Leonardo revealed that art was the key in expressive detailed explanation.

Clippers or the knife? The reform of surgical practice and the difficulty of early wound closure.

Salt, vinegar and wine sounds more like a recipe from the Saturday kitchen, but in 1667 it was all a surgeon could use to close wounds, along with silk and linen strips. In providing this service, barbers and surgeons found themselves confused and intertwined, struggling for professional recognition that was about to experience reform. Allegations of neglect in the aftermath of a major seafaring battle on the very shores of our capital city required the court of King Charles II to search for a solution of supreme magnitude to accommodate the hundreds of maimed sailors who were littering the streets of London. A campaign to conceal the horrors of warfare began which lead to the implementation of the Greenwich charter and the construction of a hospital which the architect Christopher Wren helped to design.

The shape of things to come: operating theatre targets the way we eat.

We are becoming victims of change and, unless provisions are made to ensure regular adequate meal times, our ability to help others may be severely damaged. Most of us feel the urge to eat and are turning to fast snacks for temporary solace owing to the toil of busy operating sessions.

Surgical dressings and turbulent years of cotton industry.

Everyday use of a simple cotton bud should remind us of our not so distant past and of the appalling trade in people. Harvesting this precious commodity required forced labour eventually leading to a key turning point in the history of surgery, as civil war raged in America during the 1860s. The fight to end slavery was to reveal a new weapon against disease and certain death. A material used in this struggle against wound infection was the available stockpiles of redundant cotton. Once boiled to make softer, its use on patients in military hospitals proved to be the first clinical application of sterile surgical dressings.