Instrument case
Pocket instrument case presented to Lister, 1868. Weston Education Centre, King’s College London.This case contains some of the instruments which would have been used by a surgeon of Lister’s time.
Lister did not innovate in this area, except for ensuring that his instruments were not septic (hospital diseases caused by infected instruments were common before his career). In fact, Lister was slow to acknowledge that the surrounding environment, including instruments, had to be aseptic. In the early stages of his career, antiseptic surgery focussed almost exclusively on the putrefaction of the wound itself.
Among the instruments in this case are a knife for opening abscesses, developed by Lister’s surgical mentor James Syme, and a urethral bougie, used for the gradual dilatation of fibrous structures.
In this exhibition
- Chronology
- Lister as anatomist
- Lister comes to King's
- Lister at work: the written evidence
- Lister at work: tools of the trade
- Suture buttons
- Drainage tubes
- Instrument case
- Antiseptic dressings
- Carbolic spray dispenser
- The White Album
- Books with Lister associations
- Portraits of Lister
- Personal memorabilia
- Select bibliography