[From ether anesthesia to "green" anesthesia : Challenges in anesthesiology over the last 175 years]

The first public demonstration of ether anesthesia took place 175 years ago. Since that time, insensitivity to pain during surgical operations has been possible. The "Ether Day" has been portrayed in many ways. News of the event soon reached Europe and the rest of the world. The development of suitable apparatuses and anesthetics pathed the way for acceptance of the new method. Since the end of the nineteenth century, quality management has become more and more important. In the first half of the twentieth century the use of anesthetic apparatuses prevailed. In Germany, the medical discipline of anesthesiology was established only after 1945. This happened with support from Anglo-American countries. Further methods, such as intubation and muscle relaxation were introduced. The development of atraumatic cannulas made of plastic greatly facilitated the application of drugs. Consideration of workplace safety as a problem was a long time coming. The first concepts were not developed until the late 1970s. By the 1980s the essential elements of modern anesthesia had finally been implemented. In the beginning of the twenty-first century, the focus was initially on procedures that saved allogeneic blood. New topics emerged, ranging from the effects of anesthesia on tumors up to climate change. Anesthesiology must continue to face new challenges in the future.