The Hypodermic Needle 1853 – The Invention of the Syringe

A syringe consists of a cylinder with a piston inside it. Moving the piston up or down draws fluid into the syringe or expels it. The hypodermic (hollow) needle had not yet been invented when syringes were used to inject fluids into the body's natural openings or openings cut by physicians. Hypo is a Greek word meaning “under,” while dermic refers to the skin. Made of silver, the instrument moved fluid with a screwlike mechanism rather than the piston we know today.

• The Muslim surgeon Ammar ibn Ali of Mosul (AD 1000) is known for using a syringe to remove soft cataracts from the eye.
• In 1853, the French surgeon Charles Pravaz became one of the first to use a hypodermic syringe with a hollow needle successfully for injections. 
• The Scottish physician Alexander Wood developed a similar instrument and became the first person to inject the painkiller morphine into a patient. 

Interestingly, Wood's wife, the first known intravenous morphine addict, died of a morphine overdose. Injected morphine use spread rapidly among the wealthy, and jeweled syringe cases were made so that sophisticated ladies could carry their “precious instruments” with them.

Despite the countless drug addicts over time, the syringe became an extraordinary medical invention. Physicians could inject anesthetics and vaccines, and dentists could inject anesthetics for dental procedures. Syringes with short needles were used to inject insulin. 

Today, hypodermic needles are disposable, eliminating the need to disinfect them for subsequent use.

• The American surgeon William Halsted was among the first to use syringes to block nerves. 

During 1885 and 1886, he performed more than 2,000 different surgical procedures using regional anesthesia. The authors A. Martin Duce and F. Lopez Hernández wrote:

“Halsted's discovery was a critical turning point in surgery. Most importantly, it freed patients from pain during operations and allowed surgeons to explore techniques beyond the limits of human pain tolerance.”

About the Article Image: Syringes used throughout history

Historical Figures Mentioned in the Article: Charles Gabriel Pravaz (1791–1853), Alexander Wood (1817– 1884), William Stewart Halsted (1852–1922)

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