Surgery as we know it today is generally safe, effective, and as noninvasive as possible. For this, we have the American surgeon William Halsted to thank.

A giant in the history of American science, Halsted (1852–1922) was born in New York City to a wealthy family and earned a medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He toured Europe after leaving medical school, absorbing new ideas about surgical practices. When he returned, he became an attending doctor and surgeon at Bellevue Hospital Medical School in New York. He also emerged as one of the city’s leading proponents of using cocaine as a painkiller. Many of his experiments with the drug were conducted on himself and other doctors; as a result, Halsted became addicted to the drug for 2 years, and several of his colleagues died. The addiction seriously threatened Halsted’s career, and he was invited to leave New York in 1886 and referred to the new department of pathology at the recently opened Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, where he could work without having contact with patients.

Settling in Baltimore, Halsted beat his cocaine addiction (by switching to morphine) and revived his career at the newly formed Johns Hopkins University, where he became chief surgeon in 1890. He began developing a set of surgical techniques that would be known as Halstead School of Surgery. Halsted emphasized keeping a hygienic operating environment, using small stitches and high-quality sutures, and handling body tissues as gently as possible. His recommendations influenced a generation of American doctors who trained at Johns Hopkins and spread his ideas throughout the medical community.

Although shy and reclusive—he hated leaving Baltimore—Halsted became one of the nation’s most sought-after surgeons. He also contributed to advances in the treatment of many diseases, including breast cancer, gallstones, and thyroid disorders. Halstead’s method for treating breast cancer, for instance, became the treatment of choice for more than half a century, although it is not commonly used today. He died, ironically, from an infection following gallbladder surgery.

ADDITIONAL FACTS

  1. Halsted is also credited with the invention of mosquito clamps (small clamps used to hold a blood vessel closed) and rubber surgical gloves, which he ordered custom-made from the Goodyear Rubber Company.
  2. Chicago’s Halsted Street is named for the surgeon’s grandfather, an early investor in Windy City real estate.
  3. Two of Halsted’s most well known students were the neurosurgeons Harvey Cushing (1869–1939) and Walter Dandy (1886–1946).