TIL it used to be believed that babies as old as 15 months couldn't feel pain. As a result, doctors would preform surgery without anesthesia. Doctors used muscle relaxants on the infants to prevent squirming, essentially paralyzing the babies for the duration of the procedure.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23548489/
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1geqte2/til_it_used_to_be_believed_that_babies_as_old_as/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23548489/
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1geqte2/til_it_used_to_be_believed_that_babies_as_old_as/
The infancy of infant pain research: the experimental origins of infant pain denial - PubMed
This article reviews the history of 19th and early 20th century infant pain research, tracing how the widely accepted belief that infants could not feel pain developed in the period prior to the growing acceptance of infant pain.PubMed
