Medication effects during the civil war

Medication effects during the Civil War

Vanessa Carrillo

University of Texas at El Paso

Medication effects during the civil war

Abstract

During the civil war there were many issues that made an impact on the medical field.

The purpose of writing this report of the issues of the civil war is to inform the reader to know

how the medical field worked and of what kind of medicine they were given to patients. Also it

is very interesting how the medical field has changed since the civil war. All the research that can

be found on the topic has different perspective on each source of information. It has information

of how the doctors during the civil war were performing their surgerys in the medical field. An

other purpose to writing this report is to let the reader know what kind of medication was used.

People really dont have that much information to know what were the effects of the medication

that was given to the soldiers for the pain. This report would let the reader know all the

information that is needed to understand how the medical field worked during the civil war. It

will also give a major amount of information of how people viewed the purpose of amputating

soldiers. Amputation was a major cause during the civil war, which we would be mentioning on

the literature review.

Medication effects during the civil war

Medication effects during the Civil War: A review of literature

In the civil war there were many different issues and problems that werent taken

seriously during that time period. During the war many soldiers were losing there lives because

the medical field was not that advance and precautious at that time. Approximately 600,000

amputations were performed during the civil war, more than during any other war (Figg 1993).

However, most of the doctors and nurses werent that professional on their career field as

compared to how it is now in days. The research mention that the nurses didnt have to have any

experience the medical field, as well as not being used to having many hurt patients. However,

doctors just wanted to save as many lifes as they could, so they didnt think about any effects or

thoughts of what could happen after the medication was taken. During the war doctors had to do

many amputations on the soldiers as needed to save as many lives that they could. For the pain

they had to give drugs to the soldiers for the surgerys. Though most of the drugs had different

effects on the soldiers. On this literature review it would have more research information that

would help to understand the main information of what really happen during the civil war. For

these reasons this review has three questions that would help gain and have more information

about this research:

1. How did the amputations have a difference in the civil war?

2. How did the civil war change the modern medicine?
3. Why is the medicine given to the soldiers an important issue?
4. What type of tools were used for the surgeries?

These questions will narrow the purpose of the literature review by giving better details on the

background and on the conflict of the effects of the medication during the civil war.

How did the amputation have a difference in the Civil War?

Medication effects during the civil war

During the civil war there were many myths of what was the difference in the

amputations. Many people thought that there was no cause or reason why doctors didnt have

any precaution on the medical field. However, the amputations were the best surgery that was

preformed on the soldiers to save many lifes during the civil war. In the article of A Chance to

Cut is a Chance to Cure has a quote that mention A chance to cut is a chance to cure its an old

surgical saying (Mallin 2012). This quote gives a great amount of information of how the no

matter how much they cut at the same time they were saving millions of lives that all it mattered.

The article mention that amputations were not just only saving lifes but they were the most

successful type of surgery (Mallin 2012). Mallin also research that today amputation has had

many different benefits from the early methods done during the war, what the medical field has

learned from the procedures done then. Amputation has really made a big difference from the

civil war to todays surgeries.

There has been a huge difference on the surgerys that are being performed today as

compared to how they were performed during the war. The article of Life is Better Than Limb,

explains how amputation saved many lives. Many people really dont know that it all depend on

were the cutting was performed, which could have a higher percent of dying or could be save

(Trammell 2009). In the article they mention performing an amputations started before they were

performed in the war (Trammell 2009). The amputations were performed far back as 2000 BC in

Mesopotamia. Which in result the amputations were practices way before the civil war began.

According to the official Union records, as many as 75 percent of all amputations were

successful. During the war many people who were involved in the medical field didnt have that

much experience on any type of surgery. In the article they mention that more than half of the

doctors who worked in the civil war didnt have any experience on amputating people which
Medication effects during the civil war

meant that they were not precautious on any kind of surgery being performed. Amputation were

the most successful surgery during that period that saved many soldiers lives. Military and

medical technology and medical theory all contributed to the large number of amputees, of

whom 45,000 survived the surgery (Figg,1993). However, many soldiers returned home to a

different kind of life (Trammell,2009) soldiers attitude did changed depending on their situation.

Many veterans lived hand to mouth, day to day, and never saw any changes at all (Trammell,

2009). Most of the surgeries were successful and saved more than half of the soldiers that were

in any kind of amputating surgery.

How did the civil war change modern medicine?

The civil war had many problems which made a dramatic change in the medicine from

that period of the war to todays modern medicine. During the war doctors and people who

worked in the medical field had many different strategies. However today we dont exactly use

those same strategies for several reasons. Some reasons may be because of the type of tools that

were used wasnt as advance as how its today. In the article of Jennifer Latson she explains that

all the bloody situations that were going on at the civil war made a changed in the medicine. In

the beginning of the war the union army had only 100 doctors and there were no ambulance

corps (Latson 2014). However today there are millions of doctors and nurses who have a certain

amount of experience on the medical field. During the war the medical field was not precautious

on having a safe medical field and werent performing a clean and sanitized surgery. During that

time the medical field werent that concern on having doctors or even nurses with experience

before going to the war and helping soldiers. The medical field was only were concern on having
Medication effects during the civil war

many doctors and nurses as possible at the war. The change during the civil war made a huge

difference in how the medical field as of today are now concern on the patients health before

anything else.

Why is the medicine given to the soldiers an important issue?

In the civil war there were many amputations. An amputation is a surgery that is very

hurtful and gives a lot of pain that they had to use any kind medication that they could find to

heal the pain. The medicine that was used on the soldiers was anesthesia and chloroform which

had effects after the use of those specific drug pains. In the article of Anesthesia Advances

During the Civil War wrote by Laura Cutter gives us a better understanding of both of those

medicine that were given for the pain. The anesthesia made it possible for the surgery to be

performed on the patient which brought to save many lives. In the article it mentions that they

determined that chloroform was used at least 80,000 times on patients (Cutter 2014). However,

there were only 37 deaths were attributed to chloroform in a surgery (Cutter, 2014). The Union

and the confederate army surgeons chose chloroform to be the anesthetic agent for their choice.

Army Surgeon B.B. Breed wrote on the field of battle chloroform is the safe and preferable

agent (Cutter, 2014). Throughout the civil war chloroform was constantly used for each and

every surgery on the soldiers. In the picture you can see how the doctors used chloroform to help

the patient through the amputation surgery. Chloroform made an impact on the medicine field

which brought to save more lives during the war.

Medication effects during the civil war

Figure 1. The picture shows how the surgeries were performed during the civil war.
Source: Cutter, L. (2014, December). Anesthesia Advances During the Civil War.
Retrieved from
http://0-web.a.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=07ebabfc-5f14-4565-
be3e-c396e851ed15%40sessionmgr4008&vid=1&hid=4207

The medicine that was given to the soldiers had different effects. Each soldier could have

a different reaction on the medicine, it all depend on how painful their surgery was and amount

that was used on them. Some of the soldiers after going back home they still wanted more

chloroform to their system. Which meant that many soldiers got addicted of the use of

chloroform in their bodies. Other soldiers were just having the problem of all the drug that was

inside their system, which brought many problems to their lifes after coming back from the war.

Soldiers were saved but also brought them to have a different kind of life after the war.

What kind of tools were used during the surgerys?

In the performing of each operation there were different kind of tools that were used

during the surgery. There were many different tools that were utilized for the amputation
Medication effects during the civil war

surgeries, however they werent as good during those years. Many say that many tools looked

like inquisitorial tools of torture. (George, 2005) Union surgeons treated more than 400,000

wounded men and performed about 40,000 operations (George, 2005 p.1) as time passed the

equipment that was used began to get better as time passed. In the article of Tools of the

Surgeons trade mention most of the tools that were used on the operations. Some tools looked

like spatula-tipped bone forceps which was used for removing bone fragments (George, 2005)

there were more equipment that was used for the operations during the war. As the war continued

the number of surgerys increased, however also the medical began to have a success as the war

continued.

Conclusion
In conclusion after the civil war there have been so many changes. There have been

changes in the way the medicine field works and how modern it has been through the years. The

medicine that was used during those years are still with the field today, but they are more

precautious and know the effects that could cause an overdose on any drug pain. Also the civil

war made it possible to save as many lives during the war as possible. There were many lives

saved because of the surgeries that were performed on the soldiers. During the civil war they

researched and learned that chloroform was the best pain killer for the amputations that was

taken during the war. Many people may not know the truth about the medical field during the

civil war, but with this literature review it would give a better understanding of what really

happen during the civil war and how the situation was handle for each operations.
Medication effects during the civil war

References:

Cutter, L. (2014, December). Anesthesia Advances During the Civil War. Retrieved from

http://0-web.a.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/detail/detail?sid=a2e7bd6e-150b-4147-b6d9-

35f1e11c823d

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Rl#AN=99859566&db=a9h

Latson, J. (2014, September 18). How a Bloody Civil War Battle Changed Modern Medicine.

Retrieved from http://time.com/3329412/antietam/

Trammell, J. (2009, January). Life Is Better Than Limb. Retrieved from http://0-

web.a.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=12&sid=78d4591d-537f-47d7-a633-

4b2eac76f68a

%40sessionmgr4006&hid=4101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=

35280930&db=a9h

Mallin, R. (2012, July-August). A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure. Retrieved from http://0-

web.a.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=14&sid=78d4591d-537f-47d7-

a6334b2eac76f68a

%40sessionmgr4006&hid=4101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=

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Medication effects during the civil war

Hasegawa, G. (2003, December). The Confederate Medical Laboratories. Retrieved from

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a6334b2eac76f68a

%40sessionmgr4006&hid=4101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a

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Figg, L. (1993). Amputation in the Civil War: Physical and Social Dimentions. Journal of the

history of medicine and allied sciences, 48(4), 454.

George, P. (2005, February). Tools of the Surgeons Trade.

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vid=55&sid=78d4591d-537f-47d7-a6334b2eac76f68a

%40sessionmgr4006&hid=4101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=

15243895&db=a9h