Heroic medical treatment is an old term refering to medical interventions of an extraordinary, daring or desparate nature; so extreme that they could possibly result in the very death of the patient they were meant to save: Heroic measures were taken to save his life.[1] The term reflects antiquated medical practices and is rarely used nowadays.
The 1913 Webster dictionary definition is medical "remedies of a severe character, suited to a desperate case".[2]
A 1956 medical article reports heroic treatments of tetanus using curare poison to paralyze the respiratory system and artificial respiration using tracheostomy (incision through the windpipe) without aneshesia.[3]
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edit- ^ - heroic, retrieved 2008-09-03
- ^ 1913 Webster dictionary [1], retrieved 2008-09-03
- ^
MOLLARET P (1956-03-16). "Heroic treatment of the most severe cases of tetanus; maximal curarization without anesthesia but with tracheostomy and artificial respiration; preliminary report on 4 cases". Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift. 81 (11): 365–370. doi:10.1055/s-0028-1115695. PMID 13317613.
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