[Controversies surrounding pain and inhalation anesthesia in nineteenth century Spain]

The introduction of inhaled anesthetics to Spain in 1847 brought appearances by enthusiastic promotors, prudent and reserved admirers and stubborn adversaries - sparking controversy over the use of the new gases. In some cases debate involved the discussion of various concepts of pain, as is shown by heated exchanges among Eusebio Castelo Serra, Manuel Santos Guerra and Zacarías Benito González in the pages of the journal Boletín de Medicina, Cirugía y Farmacia, in three articles appearing between 1850 and 1851 on the concept of pain: Sobre el dolor de las enfermedades y principalmente en las operaciones quirúrgicas, Modificación de dos instrumentos and Estudios sobre el dolor. Investigation into the authors' biographies and an analysis of the content of the articles has permitted us to reconstruct some aspects of the concept of pain in Spain in the middle of the nineteenth century.