General Anesthesia In the early 1800s, before the use of anesthesia, many patients with life-threatening conditions forgo surgery and chose the permanent path of death rather than undergo to a painful and emotionally scarring procedure such as surgery before anesthesia. When the surgeries took place, they were performed on the highest floors of the hospitals so that other patients could not hear the screams. More than 8,000 operations without anesthesia were performed in the Ether Dome at Mass General Hospital, coincidentally the birthplace of the first “pain-free” surgery (Mass General). On October 16, 1846, the world of surgery changed forever. The surgical removal of a man's neck tumor took place at Mass General Hospital's Ether Dome. The surgeon was Dr. John Warren, world famous. Before Dr. Warren could cut the man's neck, William TJ Morten, a dentist, ran into the room. He presented a bag filled with a gas called Ether and swore it could take away all the patient's pain. He had tested this gas on himself, his dog and his goldfish. Dr. John Warren gave him permission to try this relatively untested gas on his patient. For the first time in the history of surgery, the Ether Dome remained silent during the surgery. No screaming, no fussing and no large man needed to hold the patient down (Decoding The Void). Soon doctors around the world began using general anesthesia, and history was made. Now let's break down what general anesthesia really is. General anesthesia makes you unconscious and unable to feel pain during medical procedures. A study conducted by a team from Harvard Medical School, Weill Cornell Medical College and Massachusetts Ins... middle of paper... place on any floor of a hospital and be a much less dangerous event. Thanks to a dentist and his goldfish, people around the world can be medically cured and not be emotionally scarred for the rest of their lives. Works Cited “Massachusetts General Hospital.” The Ether Dome at Mass General. Np, nd Web. May 14, 2014."Decoding the Void." Medicinal. Np, nd Web. May 14, 2014."General anesthesia." Definition. Np, nd Web. May 15, 2014.Freeman, Shanna. "How anesthesia works." How things work. HowStuffWorks.com, April 01, 2000. Web. May 15, 2014. Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, ndWeb. May 15, 2014."General anesthesia." General anesthesia. Np, nd Web. May 14, 2014. “Anesthetic Awareness Fact Sheet.” Anesthetic awareness fact sheet. Np, nd Web. May 15, 2014.Landau, Elisabetta. CNN. Cable News Network, May 17, 2010. Web. May 15 2014.