The Civil War remained in the US history as the bloodiest war; it was fought in more than 10,000 places, and more than 600,000 people died (2% of the population at the time!), which is more than in the case of the other wars combined (without taking into account that a part of the data regarding deaths was destroyed). Countless soldiers were also left disabled, which made the state of Mississippi, for example, spent an important part of its annual budget (20%) on artificial limbs for its veterans, the year after the war ended.
The Civil War era is referred to as the Middle Ages of US medicine; many people have heard about the lack of quality in performing surgical procedures (no use of anesthesia, the performance of unnecessary amputations and poor general care). However, these are only myths and misconceptions. It is true that, at the time of the Civil War, medical care was not what it is today, considering that doctors did not have the knowledge yet to fully grasp concept like infection, prevention etc. After all, we are talking about an era before antiseptics became available. Considering that treating infections was not as easy as it is now, the number of amputations was indeed high and most surgical tools were designed for such interventions.
Existing amputation and surgical kits dating back from the Civil War era include capital saws, rongeurs, tourniquets, trephines, knives, tweezers, lancets, Hey’s saws, straight forceps and, of course, scalpels and no orthopedic instruments were created at that time either.
Originally Posted right here: Surgical Tools In The Civil War
source https://blog.apiarymedical.com/surgical-tools-in-the-civil-war/
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