| Lister's dressing | The first type of antiseptic dressing, one of gauze impregnated with carbolic acid. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| Lister's method | Antiseptic surgery, as first advocated by Lister in 1867; the operation was performed under a cloud of diluted carbolic acid spray, the instruments were dipped in a carbolic solution before use, and the wound was dressed with a thick layer of carbolised gauze; from this was developed the present practice of aseptic surgery. Synonym: listerism. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Lister's tubercle | dorsal tubercle of radius |
| Lister, Joseph | <person> Lister's surgical achievements certainly place him as the figurehead of English medicine. Born into a studious Quaker family in Upton, England, where his father was a wealthy wine merchant and also a maker of optical instruments, Joseph was influenced into scientific problems. While a medical student, he was encouraged in research, and later published two articles, the first on the dilator and sphincter muscles of the iris (enlarge and diminish the size of the pupil) and the second, describing the involuntary muscles (erector pillores) of the skin which elevated the hairs (and cause "goose bumps"). After graduating from the non-sectarian University of London Medical School, (called the Godless College) he became interested in microscopic anatomy, physiology, the mechanism of inflammation, and intravascular clotting. Lister migrated to Edinburgh, to visit the famous Syme's Clinic, married Agnes, the daughter of James Syme, Professor of Surgery, and six years later became Chief of Surgery at Glasgow. He experienced friends and dissenters throughout his life. Deeply impressed by the high incidence of mortality after amputations (45%), he insisted on rigid cleanliness. These were the times that "laudable pus" was necessary to heal wounds. Lister was firmly convinced that pus (purulency) was not necessary, but was actually detrimental to healing. He tried various antiseptic solutions (zinc chloride, bichloride of mercury, sulfites) to sterilise wounds and finally settled on carbolic acid spray (1865). His patients' mortality dropped dramatically. Lister soaked his silk and catgut sutures in carbolic acid, and used the same solution when he cleansed and dressed wounds frequently. Joseph Lister was called to Edinburgh to follow his father-in-law, Syme as professor. He was the first physician to sit in the House of Lords (1897). Upon his death this peer of the surgical world was buried in Westminster Abbey alongside his wife, and the entire guild of surgeons realised that the British island had laid to rest her greatest surgeon. Lived: 1827-1912. (18 Nov 1997) |
| Lister, Joseph Lord | <person> English surgeon, 1827-1912. See: Listerella, Listeria, listerism, Lister's dressing, Lister's method, Lister's tubercle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Listerella | In bacteriology, a rejected generic name sometimes cited as a synonym of Listeria. The type species is Listerella hepatolytica. Origin: Joseph Lister (05 Mar 2000) |
| listeria | A group of bacteria named after the English surgeon and apostle of antisepsis, joseph lister (1827-1912). (12 Dec 1998) |
| Listeria denitrificans | A species found in cooked blood of beef; pathogenic to rats and mice when injected intraperitoneally. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Listeria grayi | A species found in the faeces of chinchillas. (05 Mar 2000) |
| listeria infections | Infections with bacteria of the genus listeria. (12 Dec 1998) |
| listeria meningitis | Infection with one of the Listeria bacteria capable of causing miscarriage (spontaneous abortion), stillbirth and premature birth. (12 Dec 1998) |
| Listeria monocytogenes | Rod shaped gram-positive bacterium. It is wide spread and can grow over an unusually wide range of temperatures 0-45쵣). It is normally saprophytic but is an opportunistic parasite, in that it can survive within cells (particularly leucocytes) and can be transmitted trans placentally. It has caused a number of serious outbreaks of food poisoning with a high mortality rate in recent years. (18 Nov 1997) |
| listerian | <medicine> Of or pertaining to listerism. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| listeriosis | Infection with one of the Listeria bacteria capable of causing miscarriage (spontaneous abortion), stillbirth and premature birth. (12 Dec 1998) |
| listerism | <medicine> The systematic use of antiseptics in the performance of operations and the treatment of wounds; so called from Joseph Lister, an English surgeon. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |