[Anesthesia in urology: notes on its history and development in Spain, 1847 to 1950]

This review of the historical course of anesthesia performed in the context of urology in Spain relies on primary sources: doctoral theses, dissertations, published articles, inaugural addresses, conference proceedings, and books belonging to various archives and libraries. We collected a large number of documents relating to urology and of particular interest regarding anesthesia, classified them, and subjected them to critical analysis. This allowed us to carefully follow the development of anesthesia and urology itself, both of which attained notable clinical and scientific importance in Spain. Anesthesia with chloroform and incomplete anesthesia were the norm during the second half of the 19th century. However, during the first half of the 20th century, the most widely used techniques were the application of ether or spinal or local infusions, although epidural and intravenous techniques were also mentioned.