Robert Liston

1794-1847

Robert Liston was a renowned Scottish surgeon, both known for his impressive skill and modernization of surgery.

Robert Liston was born on the 28th of October, 1794, in Ecclesmachan, West Lothian, Scotland. He received his medical education at Edinburgh University. Soon after his graduation, in 1818, he joined the Royal Infirmary. He also became a lecturer at the university from which he graduated.

Surgery in the early times of Robert Liston’s career was often a dangerous procedure. The use of anesthetic was generally under-developed by today’s standards. To compensate for this, surgeries were performed, or attempted, at great speed, so as to reduce both the pain experienced by the patient and the inherent risks in the procedure. By all accounts, if speed and success are to be used as a measure, Robert Liston was a excellent surgeon, the best in the reckoning of some of his contemporaries. But his own views on surgery, namely him being akin to a showman, put him at ill-favor with many in the medical profession.

Robert Liston, beyond having achievements like being able to do an amputation in 28 seconds, was also credited as being the first surgeon in Great Britain to perform a surgery with the use of general anesthetic, in this case ether. He is also invented the Liston splint and published a small number of successful books on the subject of surgery.