Editorial A Historic Occasion: An Anesthesia Journal Turns ‘70 Nicholas M. Greene, MD*
*Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University; Editor Emeritus, Anesthesia and Analgesia Address reprint requests to Dr. Greene at the Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University School of Medicine, P.O. BOX 3333, New Haven, CT 06510, USA. Received for publication July 1, 1991; accepted for publication August 5, 1991. 0 1992 Butterworth-Heinemann J. Clin. Anesth 4:1-3,
1992.
Department
of Anesthesiology,
New Haven,
CT.
Yale
University
School
of Medicine,
The year 1992 affords us the opportunity to celebrate the 70th anniversary of a turning point in the history of anesthesia. What was so special about 1922? Until that year, anesthesia lacked the fundamental hallmark of and requirement for the development of a medical specialty: its own journal. A specialty is not a specialty without its own journal. Such anesthesia articles as were published in the 76 years between the introduction of anesthesia in 1846 and 1922 had to appear either in general medical journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the New England Journal of Medicine or in surgical journals. Given the contemporary status of anesthesia and the lack of empathy on the part of the editors (and readers) of such journals, anesthesia articles were conspicuous only by their scarcity. This changed, at least somewhat, in 1914 when the American Journal of Surgery initiated a section within its pages devoted to anesthesia. That section was titled “The American Journal of Anesthesia.” This arrangement, brought about by Dr. Frank H. McMechan, an anesthetist who served as editor of this anesthesia section, was perhaps necessary and desirable. Ultimately, however, it was doomed to failure. No matter how avuncular the editor of the surgical journal might be, the status of the anesthesia supplement as a pseudopod of a surgical journal was inherently incongruous. Also, Dr. McMechan was the dynamic, indefatigable proponent and developer of the specialty of anesthesia at the time, including many of its early professional societies and organizations, an individual not about to play second fiddle to anyone any longer than he had to. In 1922, Dr. McMechan severed the cord with the American Journal of Surgery and published volume 1, number 1 of the first freestanding, independent anesthesia journal in the world, Current Researches in Anesthesia and Analgesia (Figures 1 and 2). Dr. McMechan was, of course, the editor in chief. At last, practitioners of anesthesia in the 1920s though few in number and widely scattered across the country, had a journal of their own, one they could use to communicate with each other at a time when communication was neither rapid, easy, nor practical for many doctors. Anesthetists also had a journal they could use to educate and be educated by others in the art and science of a nascent medical specialty. The appearance of the world’s first anesthesia journal was emblematic of, and an accelerant to the growth and development of, organized anesJ. Clin.
Anesth.,
vol. 4, January/February
1992
1
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Figure 1. From cover of volume 1, nurnbel- 1. of Cwrmt Researches in Anesthesia und Analgesia (now known as Armthesia and Analgesia). Reproduced with permission from the
International
Anesthesia Research Society, Cleveland, OH.
2. Editorials arid abstracts appearing in volume 1, number I, of Cztmnt Researchus in Anesthesza and Anal,ge.rm. Reproduced with permission from the International Anesthesia Research Society. Cleveland, OH.
Figure
Current Kesearches in Anesthesiu cm1 thesia and the practice of‘ anesthesia. Analgesia was within a year joined by the second anesthesia journal, the British Journal of Anaesthesia, and they in turn werejoined by AnesthesioloLq in 1940, Anaesthesia in 1946, and subsequently a host of other anesthesia journals, the global number of which now exceeds 50. The name of the granddaddy of them all changed to Anesthesia and Analge.ria, Curwnt RPsearches in 1957 and to just plain Anesthesin nnd Analgesia in 1979. But this is the same journal, the 70th birthday of which deserves our congratulations and our attention. One of the interesting sidelights about “The Yellow Journal,” as the first journal was once called because of its bright canary yellow cover, is the fact that in its first 69 years of existence, it had only four editors in 2
J. Clin. Anesth., vol. 4, January/February
1992
Editorial
chief: McMechan from 1922 to 1939, Dr. Howard Dittrick from 1940 to 1954, Dr. T.H. (Harry) Seldon from 1954 to 1977, and Dr. N.M. Greene from 1977 to 199 1. Dr. Ronald D. Miller became its fifth editor in chief in 1991. More important and substantially more interesting is the journal as a mirror of the early growth and development of anesthesia as a medical specialty. Its pages are poignant reminders of where we came from, not only as an organized medical specialty but in terms of the development of anesthetic drugs and equipment. Indeed, its pages are the only readily available source of what anesthesia was like in the United States and Canada (hence the “International” in the sponsoring society’s name). In the pages of bygone issues, we can find, for example, how anesthetists constantly searched for something better than the major techniques available to them: ether, chloroform, and spinal. We see articles describing the virtues of inhalation anesthetics such as ethyl chloride,’ acetylene,* divinyl ether (Vinethene),3 ethylene,4 and, finally, the “champagne of anesthetics,” cyclopropane. 5 We also find the first descriptions of continuous epidural anesthesia,6 carbon dioxide absorbants,’ and closed-circle anesthesia circuits.8 There is also Virginia Apgar’s first description of “a new method of evaluation of the newborn infant.“9 The anniversary of the introduction of the first anesthesia journal is a cause for celebration. So, too, are both the contributions this first journal made to anesthesiology in the past and the contributions it continues to make to the present state of the art and science of anesthesiology.
References 1. Oldenbourg LA: A preliminary report on ethyl chlorid (sic) anesthesia in minor operations. An&h Analg 1923;2:30-2. A, Goldman JD: Acetylene-oxygen anesthesia. An&h An&g 1925; 2. Goldman 4: 2 11-8; 280-6. 3. Leake CD, Chen M-Y: A preliminary note on the anesthetic properties of certain unsaturated ethers. An&h Analg 193 1; 10: l-3. 4. Luckhardt AB, Carter JB: Ethylene as a gas anesthetic. An&h An&g 1923;2:2219. 5. Stiles JA, Neff WB, Rovenstine EA, Waters RM: Cyclopropane as an anesthetic agent. Anesth Analg 1934; 13:56. 6. Curbelo MM: Continuous peridural segmental anesthesia by means of ureteral catheter. Anesth Analg 1949;28:13-23. 7. Waters RM: Advantages of carbon dioxid (sic) filtration with inhalation anesthesia. Anesth Analg 1926;5: 160-2. 8. Sword BC: The closed circle method of administration of gas anesthesia. Anesth Analg 1930;9: 198-202. 9. Apgar V: A proposal for a new method of evaluation of the newborn infant. Anesth Analg 1953;32:260-7.
J. Clin. Anesth.,
vol. 4, January/February
1992
3
*Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University; Editor Emeritus, Anesthesia and Analgesia Address reprint requests to Dr. Greene at the Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University School of Medicine, P.O. BOX 3333, New Haven, CT 06510, USA. Received for publication July 1, 1991; accepted for publication August 5, 1991. 0 1992 Butterworth-Heinemann J. Clin. Anesth 4:1-3,
1992.
Department
of Anesthesiology,
New Haven,
CT.
Yale
University
School
of Medicine,
The year 1992 affords us the opportunity to celebrate the 70th anniversary of a turning point in the history of anesthesia. What was so special about 1922? Until that year, anesthesia lacked the fundamental hallmark of and requirement for the development of a medical specialty: its own journal. A specialty is not a specialty without its own journal. Such anesthesia articles as were published in the 76 years between the introduction of anesthesia in 1846 and 1922 had to appear either in general medical journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the New England Journal of Medicine or in surgical journals. Given the contemporary status of anesthesia and the lack of empathy on the part of the editors (and readers) of such journals, anesthesia articles were conspicuous only by their scarcity. This changed, at least somewhat, in 1914 when the American Journal of Surgery initiated a section within its pages devoted to anesthesia. That section was titled “The American Journal of Anesthesia.” This arrangement, brought about by Dr. Frank H. McMechan, an anesthetist who served as editor of this anesthesia section, was perhaps necessary and desirable. Ultimately, however, it was doomed to failure. No matter how avuncular the editor of the surgical journal might be, the status of the anesthesia supplement as a pseudopod of a surgical journal was inherently incongruous. Also, Dr. McMechan was the dynamic, indefatigable proponent and developer of the specialty of anesthesia at the time, including many of its early professional societies and organizations, an individual not about to play second fiddle to anyone any longer than he had to. In 1922, Dr. McMechan severed the cord with the American Journal of Surgery and published volume 1, number 1 of the first freestanding, independent anesthesia journal in the world, Current Researches in Anesthesia and Analgesia (Figures 1 and 2). Dr. McMechan was, of course, the editor in chief. At last, practitioners of anesthesia in the 1920s though few in number and widely scattered across the country, had a journal of their own, one they could use to communicate with each other at a time when communication was neither rapid, easy, nor practical for many doctors. Anesthetists also had a journal they could use to educate and be educated by others in the art and science of a nascent medical specialty. The appearance of the world’s first anesthesia journal was emblematic of, and an accelerant to the growth and development of, organized anesJ. Clin.
Anesth.,
vol. 4, January/February
1992
1
AIWbR&UldAd&&R-Ml=
CURREMT RESEARCHES ‘tN AWEST+%StA A#U~LiGb~fA -.._-._-_--..-.._ . ANO. ..--_-_-.-.._ ------:- X’.ATlONAl. ANRSTHRSIA RESRARM SOClETY ._..-
____
_ .._
E. I. McKESSON. P.md”l F. H.
McMrraw,
Lake She
___.__ F.,
H.
MCMECHAN.
A. M..
M.D.,
EDITOR
.__
__.-_._
._
-..
,Y. I. JONRS.
D..
-----
a
D. D. S..
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Road, Avoa Lake. 0.
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A. E.
.,.
.-. .,. .
- _...___ - _..__. ..- _.,_.__.
w
__
-. .._.. .._. ..- ___.. _ _ _,..
Rim*, Ph. C.. 16. D.. Ear, SC.Lr+i& 111.
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Amdah
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FRAN~xN~~~, E.r-Sky., 16 E Broad St., Co:tmbus, Ohio T.
Lt. D., Editor,
m-d---
-
CLARK.
Srr’y
Vice Prraidsat
_: .._.. ._ _. .__.___. ._. __ .- .._. .._._ Contents of the Asgust, 1922, Issue
zsyii ti--h
If.
_ H. Miller,
0.
_. __... ._. .._ Pk. D., Cohabi..
H. D.. Providrur.
MO.
__ _. R. 1.
w7-84kr..-... __ _.__ .._ ., ._. ____ ._. ..,. Clifford bfitrlutl, Y. D., Chimp, 11,.
1922
50~ a
Ye?
copy
kV
m.
hv JV
~.;i;i~
.r_~
-. .._.
.-
d_
“~ r.:_. _ ,..,_
._
._,
Published by
THE
NATIONAL
R~EARCH
AN~WH~SIA
SOCIETY. INC.
Figure 1. From cover of volume 1, nurnbel- 1. of Cwrmt Researches in Anesthesia und Analgesia (now known as Armthesia and Analgesia). Reproduced with permission from the
International
Anesthesia Research Society, Cleveland, OH.
2. Editorials arid abstracts appearing in volume 1, number I, of Cztmnt Researchus in Anesthesza and Anal,ge.rm. Reproduced with permission from the International Anesthesia Research Society. Cleveland, OH.
Figure
Current Kesearches in Anesthesiu cm1 thesia and the practice of‘ anesthesia. Analgesia was within a year joined by the second anesthesia journal, the British Journal of Anaesthesia, and they in turn werejoined by AnesthesioloLq in 1940, Anaesthesia in 1946, and subsequently a host of other anesthesia journals, the global number of which now exceeds 50. The name of the granddaddy of them all changed to Anesthesia and Analge.ria, Curwnt RPsearches in 1957 and to just plain Anesthesin nnd Analgesia in 1979. But this is the same journal, the 70th birthday of which deserves our congratulations and our attention. One of the interesting sidelights about “The Yellow Journal,” as the first journal was once called because of its bright canary yellow cover, is the fact that in its first 69 years of existence, it had only four editors in 2
J. Clin. Anesth., vol. 4, January/February
1992
Editorial
chief: McMechan from 1922 to 1939, Dr. Howard Dittrick from 1940 to 1954, Dr. T.H. (Harry) Seldon from 1954 to 1977, and Dr. N.M. Greene from 1977 to 199 1. Dr. Ronald D. Miller became its fifth editor in chief in 1991. More important and substantially more interesting is the journal as a mirror of the early growth and development of anesthesia as a medical specialty. Its pages are poignant reminders of where we came from, not only as an organized medical specialty but in terms of the development of anesthetic drugs and equipment. Indeed, its pages are the only readily available source of what anesthesia was like in the United States and Canada (hence the “International” in the sponsoring society’s name). In the pages of bygone issues, we can find, for example, how anesthetists constantly searched for something better than the major techniques available to them: ether, chloroform, and spinal. We see articles describing the virtues of inhalation anesthetics such as ethyl chloride,’ acetylene,* divinyl ether (Vinethene),3 ethylene,4 and, finally, the “champagne of anesthetics,” cyclopropane. 5 We also find the first descriptions of continuous epidural anesthesia,6 carbon dioxide absorbants,’ and closed-circle anesthesia circuits.8 There is also Virginia Apgar’s first description of “a new method of evaluation of the newborn infant.“9 The anniversary of the introduction of the first anesthesia journal is a cause for celebration. So, too, are both the contributions this first journal made to anesthesiology in the past and the contributions it continues to make to the present state of the art and science of anesthesiology.
References 1. Oldenbourg LA: A preliminary report on ethyl chlorid (sic) anesthesia in minor operations. An&h Analg 1923;2:30-2. A, Goldman JD: Acetylene-oxygen anesthesia. An&h An&g 1925; 2. Goldman 4: 2 11-8; 280-6. 3. Leake CD, Chen M-Y: A preliminary note on the anesthetic properties of certain unsaturated ethers. An&h Analg 193 1; 10: l-3. 4. Luckhardt AB, Carter JB: Ethylene as a gas anesthetic. An&h An&g 1923;2:2219. 5. Stiles JA, Neff WB, Rovenstine EA, Waters RM: Cyclopropane as an anesthetic agent. Anesth Analg 1934; 13:56. 6. Curbelo MM: Continuous peridural segmental anesthesia by means of ureteral catheter. Anesth Analg 1949;28:13-23. 7. Waters RM: Advantages of carbon dioxid (sic) filtration with inhalation anesthesia. Anesth Analg 1926;5: 160-2. 8. Sword BC: The closed circle method of administration of gas anesthesia. Anesth Analg 1930;9: 198-202. 9. Apgar V: A proposal for a new method of evaluation of the newborn infant. Anesth Analg 1953;32:260-7.
J. Clin. Anesth.,
vol. 4, January/February
1992
3
