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Furor Operativus

furor operativus

Following William Morton's spectacular success in Massachusetts, critics of etherization were worried that the advent of anaesthesia would encourage surgeons to perform unnecessary operations. Even Henry Bigelow, who facilitated Morton's demonstration and wrote it up glowingly, feared that anaesthesia might encourage mediocre or incompetent surgeons to conduct surgery when it might be avoided. However, the statistical record does not suggest any great upsurge in surgery took place.
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