Video: 'Dr Crawford W.Long's Painless Operations'

(Wednesday, March 30, 1842, 2:42 p.m. local time) — Dr. Crawford Long of Jefferson, Georgia, today became the first physician to use anesthetic (ether) in surgery during an operation to remove a tumor from the neck of a patient, James M. Venable.

Long administered sulfuric ether on a towel and simply had the patient inhale. He performed many other surgeries using this technique during the next few years, introducing the technique to his obstetrics practice as well. Long subsequently removed a second tumor from Venable and used ether as an anesthetic in amputations and childbirth.

Despite his continued use of the ether anesthetic, Long did not immediately publish his findings. The results of these trials were eventually published in 1849 in The Southern Medical and Surgical Journal.