Black And White Images Reveal A Time Before Medical Standards Were Commonplace

From Siamese twins being separated for the first time in 1902 to patients treated without anaesthetic: Black and white images reveal a time before medical standards were commonplace

• The series of photos include Siamese twins being separated by doctors in 1902
• Another picture shows a doctor use anaesthesia in 1922 after it was made legal
• Medical attire in the images would be deemed controversial by doctors today

Chilling black and white photographs from the 19th and 20th century have emerged today that show a range of pioneering operations being carried out - long before medical standards became commonplace.

The fascinating series of vintage pictures are a stark reminder of how little surgeons cared about hygiene more than 100 years ago, often not wearing gloves and leaving their patients at risk of deadly infections.

Dressed only in scrubs, many of those in the images can be seen performing a range of procedures without wearing masks or equipment now deemed vital in modern day surgery.

A handful of patients can be seen resting on normal, wooden tables - not the rotating, reclining beds used in hospitals across the world today. While anaesthetic is used in only a few procedures, suggesting many of the patients pictured were forced to face the pain of surgical incisions without any respite.

One of the pictures depicts Siamese twins being separated by doctors in 1902, dubbed to be the world-first operation of its kind. Such dramatic procedures to detach two bodies are much more common in 2017.

Another shows a doctor giving a patient a local anaesthetic for the first time in 1922, when Novocaine was made available for use in the US. The drug is now used widely in the present day, from fillings to mole removal.

An embalming surgeon is also pictured in his full glory. Designed specifically during times of war, this job involved injecting a special fluid into the body of dead soldiers to preserve parts of them in order to ship them home.



The female Siamese twins were born in Orissa, India, in 1888 and were attached at the chest by a band of cartilage. The moment Radica and Doodica were born, they were run out of town by the villagers, who saw them as a sign of 'divine wrath'.

In 1893, they were sold by their parents to Captain Colman, a showman from London, who wanted to display them in Europe. Following the contraction of tuberculosis by Doodica, they were rushed to Paris to be separated by French surgeon, Eugene-Louis Doyen.

Dr Doyen was considered controversial at the time due to his fascination of filming surgical operations for use as a teaching guide. An eight-minute video of the operation was screened at meetings in Paris and Berlin.

However, while the operation was deemed a success, and Radica survived the operation, her twin sister Doodica died a week afterwards.











French surgeon Dr Eugne-Louis Doyen performs surgery to separate conjoined twins Radica and Doodica in 1902. The female Siamese twins, also known as Hindoo Twins and The Orissa Twins, were born in Orissa, India, in 1888 and were attached at the chest by a band of cartilage




After detaching the twins from each other, Dr Doyen had to bind the arteries of them both to help them survive. Dr Doyen was considered controversial at the time due to his fascination of filming surgical operations for use as a teaching guide





A minor operation at the Brooklyn Naval Hospital, which shut in the 1970s, on a patient's leg can be seen in this black and white snap taken in 1900. Nurses can be seen in the back of the photo, while two helpers stabilise the patient's legs. No gloves, or masks, are worn by any of the team - something that is essential in modern day surgery




This picture of the same operation at Brooklyn Navy Yard Hospital shows the surgery room at a much wider angle, with the procedure appearing to be performed in a kitchen. It is fitted with a kettle and multiple cooking bowls - a world away from the specially designed operating rooms used in hospitals across the world in 2017




Deemed 'modern surgery' at the time, this picture snapped in 1905 shows a new style operating bed that can be rotated and reclined as it's needed. Unsure where it is taken, the surgeons can be seen wearing masks for hygiene reasons - before it became common practice across the world. The first recorded use of a surgical mask dates back to 1887 in France




Taken in 1860, this photograph from an unknown location shows Dr Richard Burr, an embalming surgeon, at work on a dead soldier, trying to preserve his body in order to ship him home. No gloves are used, leaving Dr Burr at risk of infection, and the patient's lower body is wrapped in just a towel - a world away from the reality of modern surgery




Dr John C Boyde, a Government official in the US Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, can be seen in this picture taken in 1890. The department, launched 48 years prior to this picture being taken, now operates many hospitals and trains the Navy's troops related to medicine that can be deployed across the world




Surgery in progress at the Metropolitan Hospital Training School for Nurses on Roosevelt Island), New York City. Taken in 1915, the operating team can be seen wearing masks and gloves, but the anaesthetist isn't following the same hygiene protocol




Taken in 1908, this black and white photograph shows a man and woman in an operating room, perhaps preparing for surgery. The woman, believed to be a nurse, can be seen arranging tools and equipment ready for the operation




In the first of a serious of five snaps taken in 1922, this phenomenal picture shows a doctor placing a patient under anaesthesia after Novocain was officially made legal to use in the US




Donned with full scrubs, hats, masks and gloves, this picture of the same patient is believed to signal the start of the revolution for improved health and hygiene during surgery




This photograph shows the other side of the operating theatre, where the equipment is prepared and ready for the procedure ahead



Armed with an array of basic medical tools, these surgeons can be seen cutting into the patient's stomach mid-surgery during what appears to be an abdominal procedure. Nowadays surgeons have access to much more than just forceps to make incisions




Smile for the camera: Two surgeons are looking into the camera ready for their photograph to be taken while mid-operation. Back then, pictures during surgery were uncommon, but they have grown in popularity over recent decades, often used as a teaching guide. The other appears to be focused entirely on the patient in front of him


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