Did They Operate on Babies Without Anesthesia?
For Year's, Even as Life-Saving Surgeries Became More Invasive, Longer, and More Intense, the Majority of Newborns Still Underwent Them Without Anesthetic...
For years, even as life-saving surgeries became more invasive, longer, and more intense, the majority of newborns still underwent them without anesthetic. Often, they were given nothing more than a muscle relaxant to keep them from thrashing around during the operation.
Did they used to operate on babies without anesthesia?
24) suggests that unanesthetized surgery has been limited to newborns and that the practice had largely ended by the late 1970's. However, surveys of medical professionals indicate that as recently as 1986 infants as old as 15 months were receiving no anesthesia during surgery at most American hospitals.
Why did doctors operate on babies without anesthesia?
The belief that babies' nervous systems were undeveloped and they therefore could not feel pain meant they were not provided with anesthesia as standard practice. Instead, babies were administered muscle relaxants to stop them from moving during invasive procedures.
Marcus Vance is a cybersecurity auditor and technology writer dedicated to educating the public about online safety, data privacy regulations, enterprise security, and emerging cyber threats.
