Until the 19th century, most surgeries resulted in the death of a patient from infections introduced by health workers. Fortunately, a medical advance such as antiseptics has kept the percentage of deaths from septicopyemia to a minimum. Modern surgery successfully uses various types of antiseptics, which we will talk about in this article.
What is an antiseptic and what is it for?
The relationship of pathogenic microbes with purulent inflammation of wounds was guessed even by ancient doctors who unknowingly used natural components with anti-inflammatory properties. Nevertheless, the real fight against surgical infections began in the second half of the XIX century, when the English physician J. Lister published an article in which he described his method of treating an open fracture using a 5% solution of carbolic acid. Since then, a new era has begun in surgery, where with the development of medicine, new types of antiseptics have appeared.
Antiseptics in modern terminology means a set of measures and manipulations, the purpose of which is the destruction of microorganisms, as well as their spores and toxins in tissues and macroorganisms. Along with this, the term “asepsis” is of great importance in surgery, which means a set of measures to prevent the development of pathogenic microbes in wounds. Aseptic techniques also include sterilization of surgical instruments and accessories. As well as the discovery of anesthesia and blood groups, the types of aseptic and antiseptic that were discovered in the 19th century became one of the fundamental medical achievements of the time. From that period on, surgeons began to practice more actively the previously considered risky (almost 100% fatal) operations on the chest and abdominal cavity.
The main types of antiseptics in modern medicine
Aseptic, of course, plays a huge role in surgery and often does not require additional measures, however, as practice has shown, a complete rejection of antiseptic manipulations is impossible. Types of antiseptics in medicine can be conditionally divided according to the nature of the methods used and the method of application. In the first case, the types of antiseptics include:
- Mechanical antiseptics.
- Physical.
- Chemical.
- Biological
- Mixed.
According to the method of application, the chemical and biological types of antiseptics are divided into:
- Local in the form of processing of some separate part of the body. Local antiseptics can be superficial and deep. Superficial means toilet wounds and injuries (washing with solutions, treatment with powders, ointments, compresses), and deep antiseptics are the introduction into the body of chemical and biological anti-infectious drugs by injection.
- General, implying infusion saturation of the body through blood and lymph with antiseptic drugs (infusion of droppers).
Mechanical antiseptics
Mechanical antiseptics are performed using surgical instruments and include:
- Toilet of injured tissue: cleansing the wound of blood clots and pus, if any.
- Primary treatment: if necessary, dissection of the edges and the bottom of the wound, removal of foreign bodies and non-viable tissue sites, the imposition of surgical sutures.
- Secondary treatment is carried out in the event of an infectious inflammation of the injury and includes re-dissection of the wound, drainage, removal of purulent secretion, fibrin and dead tissues.
Physical antiseptic
Physical antiseptics includes a set of measures to prevent the propagation of pathogenic microbes and the absorption of products of their vital activity by the patient’s tissues. Physical types of wound antiseptics include the following:
- Hygroscopic dressing for drawing a secret from the wound favorable for the reproduction of microbes. This group of antiseptic agents includes: cotton wool, bandage, wipes.
- Hypertonic solutions are used in combination with dressings.
- Draining agents act on the basis of communicating vessels, the method consists in flow washing the wound.
- Technical means in the form of ultrasound, ultraviolet, X-ray, laser and oxygenation. All these methods have a negative effect on the development of pathogenic microbes with high efficiency.
Chemical antiseptics
Chemical antiseptics include measures to destroy pathogens in the wound or body of a patient using chemical agents, among which are:
- Disinfectants are used in aseptics for the treatment of surgical instruments, surfaces of floors, walls, etc.
- Chemical antiseptics are used for local use and include various types of skin antiseptics in the form of alkalis, solutions of salts, acids, oxidizing agents, etc. The advantage of such agents is a wide range of antibacterial action, low resistance of pathogens to the drug, as well as the possibility of long-term storage and absence significant adverse reactions.
- Chemotherapeutic drugs are used for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes and are represented by synthetic antiseptics. They have an inhibitory effect on microbes not only in the affected tissues of the patient, but also in his entire body. Especially significant in cases of spread of the inflammatory process outside the focus of infection. Chemotherapeutic drugs are valuable in medicine not only because of their wide spectrum of action (i.e., their ability to suppress various types of bacteria), but also their narrow focus.
Biological antiseptics
Biological antiseptics include agents of biological origin, which are able to act both directly on microorganisms and indirectly. Biological antiseptics include:
- Antibiotics of biological origin are produced by some bacteria, molds. Different types of antibiotics can both inhibit the growth of bacteria and contribute to the complete death of microbes.
- Anatoxins of some infectious pathogens are introduced into the body of healthy people to develop immunity to this bacterium.
- Bacteriophages are viruses (often called bacteria eaters) that can destroy the microorganism from the inside.
- Nonspecific immunostimulants (interferons, interleukins).
Mixed antiseptics
Combined antiseptics use the methods and means of all types of antiseptics in total. As combined means are used:
- Inorganic antiseptic agents.
- Synthetic analogues of biological agents.
- Synthetically produced organic substances.
Types of antiseptics for wood and other building materials
Various bacteria can cause processes of decay and decomposition, not only in humans and animals, but also in building materials, such as wood. To protect wooden products in the interior and exterior from damage by insects and house mushrooms, different types of wood preservatives are used in construction. They can be:
- Inorganic antiseptics have a mineral base and are represented by metal salts that effectively destroy all insects on a wood product. This group includes solutions of sodium fluoride, ammonium, as well as sodium silicofluoride and ammonium silicofluoride.
- Organic antiseptics are poisonous substances most often on an oil basis (creosote, semi-coke, anthracene oil, shale, etc.).
- Combined antiseptics consist of two or more toxic substances. Examples: chlorodone, chlorophos, phenol, carbolenium.