Lister Introduces Antiseptic Technique in Surgery

Scottish surgeon Joseph Lister (1827–1912), inspired by Pasteur's germ theory, applied carbolic acid to wounds and surgical instruments at Glasgow Royal Infirmary beginning August 12, 1865. Post-amputation mortality in his ward fell from roughly 45% to around 15%. He published his results in The Lancet in 1867. Lister's antiseptic method transformed surgery from a procedure with near-certain risk of fatal infection into a survivable intervention, establishing the principle that surgical environments must be free of the microorganisms that cause wound sepsis.