How A 19th-Century Recreational Drug Changed The Practice Of Surgery

Nitrous oxide was used as a recreational drug in the 1830s and 40s and was inhaled at “laughing gas parties” or “ether frolics” for the exhilarating high it produced.

In 1844, a Connecticut dentist named Horace Wells came to Harvard to demonstrate that inhaling the right quantity of the chemical eliminates pain during medical or surgical procedures. Unfortunately the patient screamed throughout the extraction of his rotten tooth and Wells was discredited.

Neither Wells nor his Harvard audience knew that a common side effect of inhaling the gas was screaming, groaning, or showing agitated behavior—despite the fact that they were feeling absolutely no pain.

Luckily research continued and pain-free surgery became a reality.


More: The Atlantic