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9. Mistakes in the operating theater were common, often comical, and usually fatal.
Surgery in the 19th century was fast, brutal and often took place in dirty and cramped rooms. Mistakes were inevitable. Indeed, looking at the records from the time, the shocking errors made by the self-proclaimed medical elite almost outweigh their successes. Above all, “the fastest knife in the West” Robert Liston was responsible for a catalog of errors. And if they weren’t so tragic, most of his errors would be comical, including the infamous occasion he scored an unprecedented ‘300% mortality’ rate in one operation alone.
On that occasion, Liston was due to perform a routine leg amputation. He approached the procedure with his usual speed and bravado, asking his assistant to time him as he raised his scalpel. Unfortunately, in his haste, he managed to cut two of his assistant’s fingers off. Then he swung his knife back, slashing the coat of a spectator. That man dropped dead of a heart attack, while the stumps where Liston’s assistant’s fingers used to be soon became infected, with fatal consequences. Needless to say, the patient also died. And that was just one botched operation! Liston also famously chopped off a man’s testicles whilst trying to take off his leg, and he was still seen as one of Britain’s finest physicians.