The first publications on anesthesia belong to physicians from various surgical specialties who care and are interested in anesthesia. The first publication on the use of ether was by Miralay Dr. Ahmet Bey’s textbook named “Medical Curriculum” (1871). This was followed by Münif Bey’s article “On Chloroform”.
In 1882, Dr. Munir, Dr. Abidin and in 1891 Dr. Hüseyin Bey and Obstetrics Clinic teacher Dr. Besim Ömer Pasha has publications on anesthesia under the name Mubtel-i Hissi, which is used to mean the removal of the sense instead of anesthesia.
Cemil Topuzlu Pasha started using chloroform when he returned to the country in 1890 after his education in Paris. Topuzlu Pasha used chloroform until 1924, then he started to apply ether anesthesia.
Ether anesthesia was applied for the first time in our country in 1898 by Rieder Pasha, who came from Germany to establish the Gülhane Military Practice School. One of the surgery instructors of Darülfünun Faculty of Medicine, who returned home after his education in Germany, Op. Dr. Orhan Abdi Kurtaran has continued to use ether since 1905. In this period, Cemil Topuzlu, Besim Ömer Akalın, Orhan Abdi Kurtaran, Rıza Nur, Burhanettin Toker, Kazım İsmail Gürkan, Akif Şakir Şakar, Ahmed Asım Onur, Halit Ziya Konuralp made important contributions to the development and establishment of anesthesia both with their practices and their writings.
The first advanced anesthesia device was brought to the Istanbul Medical Faculty I. Surgery Clinic by the director Prof Dr Rudolf Nissen in 1937, but this device could not be used since there were no users other than the narcologist Hasan and Hüseyin corporals who could only perform ether anesthesia at that time. In 1948, at the request of the director, Prof. Dr. Burhanettin Toker, a device that allows closed system nitrous oxide anesthesia was purchased at the First Surgery Clinic of the Faculty of Medicine. The use of the device was given by Prof Dr Toker to Dr Sadi Sun, a surgical assistant.
The first endotracheal anesthesia applications were made by Burhaneddin Toker and Sadi Sun in 1949. Since 1950, this method has been used in various hospitals in Ankara by İhsan Günalp, Ali Yücel, Cemil Aksoy, Hüsrev Polat and Orhan Bumin.
In 1950, with the official application letter he wrote to the Minister of Health Ekrem Hayri Üstündağ, Prof. Dr. Burhanettin Toker requested that the anesthesia specialty be accepted in our country as soon as possible. After 5 years, the Ministry of Health accepted Anesthesia as a specialty with the decision dated January 3, 1955 and numbered 3239.
Dr Wirtinger, who came to Haydarpaşa Numune Hospital in 1954, established the first anesthesiology service in our country. Dr. Cemalettin Öner was the first assistant of this service and the Ministry of Health, and then Dr. Moiz Kan started to work in the same service. From 1949 to 1954 Dr. Husnu Ozturk, Dr. Simon Batmaz, Dr. Melih Erhan, Dr. Ruchan Kutbay, Dr. Cemalettin Oner, Dr. Huseyin Ergonenc, Dr. Kadriye Bilge, Dr. Cahit Bergil, Dr. Ercument Kopman, Dr. İhsan Günalp, Dr. Hüsrev Polat and Emel Çobanoğlu were among the first to work in the field of anesthesia.
Finally, in our country, anesthesiology was included in the Specialization Regulation No. 4/6379 on January 20, 1956. Thus, the first pioneers of this branch have now officially started to receive their specialization diplomas. The first two of them are Dr Sadi Sun at Istanbul Medical Faculty with the thesis titled “Anesthesia with Trichloroethylene” in March 1956 and Dr Cemalettin Öner from the Ministry of Health with the thesis “Potentialize Anesthesia” in December 1956.
Later, in 1957, Dr Moiz Kan, Dr. Cahit Bergil, Dr. Emel Berkol, Dr. Mehmet Nazlı, Dr. Refik Paykoç, Dr. Müfit Erkut, in 1960 Dr. Kamil Ergin and Dr. Faruk Or, in 1965 Dr. Özdemir Demir became the first anesthesiologist in our country classified as experts.
