The British Journal of Anaesthesia: An informal history of the first 25 years

Abstract

In 1961, some 7 months after starting anaesthesia in the Leeds General Infirmary, I took out a subscription to the British Journal of Anaesthesia. It cost Pound Sterling3.15s.0d (Pound Sterling3.75) a year. The publishers John Sherratt and Son of Altringham) sent me the back numbers from the start of that year. I first had a paper published in the journal in 1965; first refereed a paper in 1969; joined the editorial board in 1975; and lasted there until 1998. The following account of the early years of the journal derives from the journal itself, and from records, letters and minutes of meetings kindly given to me by Dr Edmund Riding and Professor Andrew Hunter when they demitted offices with the journal. The history cannot be complete. Sadly, the earliest minutes books are lost. But there is much of interest covering the times when anaesthesia developed from the rag-and-bottle inhalation era to the use of intravenous anaesthetics, neuromuscular blocking agents, ventilators and monitoring. Thoracic and neurosurgical anaesthesia were revolutionized; cardiac surgery became possible; and resuscitation with intravenous fluids, blood and plasma all developed. Antibiotics improved care. Anaesthetists pioneered intensive care and latterly extended their roles in pain relief outside the operating theatre. All these developments have appeared in papers at some time in this journal. This is a personal view of the journal over its first 25 years: there will be errors and misinterpretations--these are mine.