Editing Operating theater (section)

==History==
[[File:The Agnew Clinic - Thomas Eakins.jpg|thumb|''[[The Agnew Clinic]]'', 1889, by Thomas Eakins, showing the tiered arrangement of observers watching the operation.]]
[[File:Hospital Operating Room (FDA 042) (8250274128).jpg|thumb|right|An operating room in the United States, c. 1960; heart–lung machine with rotating disc oxygenator shown]]
Early Modern operating theaters in an educational setting had raised tables or chairs at the center for performing operations surrounded by steep tiers of standing stalls for students and other spectators to observe the case in progress. The surgeons wore street clothes with an [[apron]] to protect them from blood stains, and they operated bare-handed with [[sterilization (microbiology)|unsterilized]] instruments and supplies.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}}

[[File:Théâtre-anatomique-Padoue.JPG|thumb|right|The University of Padua houses the oldest surviving permanent [[anatomical theatre]] in Europe, dating from 1595. It was used as an anatomical lecture hall where professors operated only on corpses.]]
The [[University of Padua]] began teaching medicine in 1222. It played a leading role in the identification and treatment of diseases and ailments, specializing in autopsies and the inner workings of the body.<ref>Jerome J. Bylebyl, "The School of Padua: humanistic medicine in the 16th century," in Charles Webster, ed., ''Health, Medicine and Mortality in the Sixteenth Century'' (1979) ch10</ref>
In 1884 German surgeon [[Gustav Adolf Neuber|Gustav Neuber]] implemented a comprehensive set of restrictions to ensure sterilization and [[Asepsis|aseptic]] operating conditions through the use of gowns, caps, and shoe covers, all of which were cleansed in his newly invented [[autoclave]].<ref>{{cite book | last =Deysine | pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=A7AzezHNMDUC&pg=PA13 13] | first = M |  publisher = [[Informa|Informa Health Care]] | title = Hernia infections: pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment, prevention | year = 2003 | isbn = 0-8247-4612-0 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Surgeons and surgical spaces|url=https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/medicine/surgeons-and-surgical-spaces|access-date=2022-01-19|website=Science Museum|language=en}}</ref> In 1885 he designed and built a private hospital in the woods where the walls, floors and hands, arms and faces of staff were washed with [[Mercury(II) chloride|mercuric chloride]], instruments were made with flat surfaces and the shelving was easy-to-clean glass. Neuber also introduced separate operating theaters for infected and uninfected patients and the use of heated and filtered air in the theater to eliminate germs.<ref>{{cite book | last = Bishop | first = WJ | pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=Yds0EJ3nh8AC&pg=PA169 169] | title = The Early history of surgery | isbn = 1-56619-798-8 | publisher = [[Barnes & Noble]] | year = 1995 }}</ref> In 1890 [[medical glove|surgical gloves]] were introduced to the practice of medicine by [[William Halsted]].<ref>{{cite book | pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=VsyYXczSmhgC&pg=PA376 376] | title = The Cambridge illustrated history of medicine | first = R | last = Porter | publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] | year = 2001 | isbn = 0-521-00252-4 }}</ref> Aseptic surgery was pioneered in the [[United States]] by [[Charles McBurney (surgeon)|Charles McBurney]].<ref>{{cite book | title = This day in American history | first = E | last = Gross | year = 1990 | pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=tQ9eEattl4MC&pg=PA61 61] |isbn = 1-55570-046-2 | publisher = Verlag für die Deutsche Wirtschaft }}</ref>

===Surviving operating theaters===
{{See also| Anatomical theatre}}
[[File:Old Operating Theatre.jpg|thumb|Old Operating Theatre in London]]
The oldest surviving operating theater is thought to be the 1804 operating theater of the [[Pennsylvania Hospital]] in Philadelphia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/paharc/tour/tour5.html|title=Pennsylvania Hospital History: Virtual Tour - Surgical Amphitheatre|website=www.uphs.upenn.edu}}</ref>  The 1821 [[Ether Dome]] of the [[Massachusetts General Hospital]] is still in use as a lecture hall. Another surviving operating theater is the [[Old Operating Theatre]] in [[London]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Old Operating Theatre|url=https://oldoperatingtheatre.com/|access-date=2022-01-19|website=The Old Operating Theatre Museum & Herb Garret|language=en-US}}</ref> Built in 1822, it is now a museum of surgical history. [[Anatomical Theatre of Padua|The Anatomical Theater]] at the [[University of Padua]], in [[Italy]], inside Palazzo Bo was constructed and used as a lecture hall for medical students who observed the dissection of corpses, not surgical operations. It was commissioned by the anatomist Girolamo Fabrizio d'[[Acquapendente]] in 1595.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Palazzo Bo and Anatomical Theatre {{!}} Università di Padova|url=https://www.unipd.it/en/palazzo-bo-and-anatomical-theatre|access-date=2022-01-19|website=www.unipd.it}}</ref>