During the Civil War, nurse anesthetists delivered anesthesia using which technique?

• A. Open drop ether technique
• B. Spinal anesthesia
• C. Nitrous oxide inhalation
• D. Local infiltration

Answer: (A)

The method being tested is the open drop ether technique, which is how nurse anesthetists typically delivered anesthesia in Civil War field hospitals. Ether was dripped onto a cloth or gauze near the patient’s face, and the patient inhaled the vapors to achieve unconsciousness for surgery. This approach was practical in the war’s rugged, resource-limited settings: it required relatively little equipment, could be administered quickly by a trained nurse under the surgeon’s direction, and provided reliable depth of anesthesia for many procedures. Spinal anesthesia was not available or reliable in that era, and nitrous oxide or local infiltration were not the standard practices for major battlefield surgery at the time.