Joseph Lister (1827–1912): a pioneer of antiseptic surgery remembered a century after his death
Abstract
Joseph Lister was a remarkable British surgeon who pioneered principles of antisepsis. He died 100 years ago after devoting his life to developing and promoting safe, antiseptic surgery. In the 1800s as many as 80% of all operations resulted in infection but many people refused to accept the true nature of infection, believing instead that the deaths were coincidental. Lister became familiar with the work of Pasteur while working in Glasgow. He recognized the truth in Pasteur's work and in 1867 Lister published his landmark paper ‘On the Antiseptic Principle in the Practice of Surgery’ in the British Medical Journal. It proved to be a turning point in healthcare.
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Cites
Guideline for Prevention of Surgical Site Infection, 1999
Mangram, A. J., Horan, T. C., Pearson, M. L., Silver, L. C., & Jarvis, W. R. (1999) · American Journal of Infection Control · doi:10.1016/s0196-6553(99)70088-x · Cited by 2,881 · see citing works
Mangram, A. J., Horan, T. C., Pearson, M. L., Silver, L. C., & Jarvis, W. R. (1999) · PubMed · Cited by 2,788 · see citing works
Lederberg, J. (2000) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.288.5464.287 · Cited by 523 · see citing works
On the Antiseptic Principle in the Practice of Surgery
Lister, J. J. (1867) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.2.351.246 · Cited by 295 · see citing works
Pioneers in infection control—Joseph Lister
Newsom, S. W. B. (2003) · Journal of Hospital Infection · doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2003.08.001 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
The Contributions of Infection Control to a Century of Surgical Progress
ALEXANDER, J. W. (1985) · Annals of Surgery · doi:10.1097/00000658-198504000-00004 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Cope, Z. (1967) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.2.5543.7 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Doberneck, R. C., & Kleinman, R. (1984) · PubMed · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Observations on the Muscular Tissue of the Skin
Lister, J. J. (1853) · Journal of Cell Science · doi:10.1242/jcs.s1-1.4.262 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Remarks on Micro-Organisms: their Relation to Disease
Lister, J. (1880) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.2.1027.363 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Ambroise Paré (1510-1590): father of surgery as art and science.
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James Syme (1799-1870), a great surgeon who promoted proctology
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Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 6
- Guthrie D, 1949, Lord Lister
- Lamont A, 1992, Creation, 14, 48
- Lister J, 1853, Quarterly Journal of Microscopy Science, 1, 262
- Lister J, 1853, Quarterly Journal of Microscopy Science, 1, 8
- Fraenkel J, 1959, The Example of Joseph Lister
- Doberneck RC, 1984, Surgery, 95, 694
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Still being checked.
- Authors
- Jessney, B.
- Affiliations
- Hull York Medical School (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Jessney, Benn
- Venue
- Journal of Medical Biography
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2012-08
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 107-110
- ISSN
- 0967-7720 (ISSN-L)
- 1758-1087
- OpenAlex
- W1977682172
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 14
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 2
- FWCI
- 26.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Medical Biography (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Medical History and Innovations
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › History of Medical Practice
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Historical Medical Research and Treatments
- Keywords
- Joseph Lister, antiseptic surgery, antisepsis, surgical infections, Louis Pasteur, history of surgery, history of medicine, 19th-century medicine
- MeSH terms
- Antisepsis, England, Humans, Microbiology, General Surgery, Phenol, History, 19th Century, History, 20th Century, Germ Theory of Disease
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