An Interactive Annotated World Bibliography of Printed and Digital Works in the History of Medicine and the Life Sciences from Circa 2000 BCE to 2022 by Fielding H. Garrison (1870-1935), Leslie T. Morton (1907-2004), and Jeremy M. Norman (1945- ) Traditionally Known as “Garrison-Morton”

15961 entries, 13944 authors and 1935 subjects. Updated: March 22, 2024

HALSTED, William Stewart

12 entries
  • 5679

Practical comments on the use and abuse of cocaine; suggested by its invariably successful employment in more than a thousand minor surgical operations.

N.Y. med. J., 42, 294-95, 1885.

The first experiments on local infiltration anesthesia were made by Halsted, who even produced anesthesia by the intradermal injection of water. Through the process of self-experimentation Halsted became addicted to cocaine for the remainder of his life. His addiction was kept a secret from all but his closest associates until after his death.



Subjects: ANESTHESIA › Cocaine, ANESTHESIA › Local Anesthesia, SURGERY: General
  • 3488

Circular suture of the intestines; an experimental study.

Amer. J. med. Sci., 94, 436-61, 1887.

Halsted set down some of the fundamental rules regarding intestinal anastomosis.



Subjects: GASTROENTEROLOGY › Esophagus: Stomach: Duodenum: Intestines, SURGERY: General › Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery
  • 3599

The radical cure of hernia.

Johns Hopk. Hosp. Bull., 1, 12-13, 112, 1889.

Simultaneously with Bassini, Halsted devised the modern operation for the radical cure of inguinal hernia. This is known as the Halsted I repair. Later his technique differed much from that of Bassini. See also his later paper on the subject in the same journal, 1893, 4, 17-24, which is reprinted in Med. Classics, 1938, 3, 412-40.



Subjects: SURGERY: General › Hernia
  • 5776

The treatment of wounds with especial reference to the value of the blood clot in the management of dead spaces.

Johns Hopk. Hosp. Rep., 2, 255-314, 18901891.

Halsted showed that optimum wound healing was most easily obtained by avoiding hematoma formation. Contains description of Halsted’s method of radical mastectomy – one of the greatest contributions ever made to the treatment of mammary cancer. This paper also contains the first mention of the use of rubber gloves (a Halsted invention) in an operating room. This paper and No. 5777 contain the first illustrations published by Max Brödel after he moved to Johns Hopkins Hospital.



Subjects: SURGERY: General , SURGERY: General › Diseases of the Breast, SURGERY: General › Wound Healing
  • 2966

Ligation of the first portion of the left subclavian artery and excision of a subclavio-axillary aneurism.

Johns Hopk. Hosp. Bull., 3, 93-94, Baltimore, MD, 1892.

First successful ligation of the left subclavian artery. This was the first “successful ligation of the first part of either subclavian artery and the first one of complete extirpation of such an aneurysm” (MacCallum). "Of his numerous publications on vascular surgery, Halsted's most scholarly and interesting." Wangensteen 263. This exhaustive monograph has a series of 8 photographs of the preoperative and postoperative appearance of a 29-year-old black man on whom Halsted operated.



Subjects: VASCULAR SURGERY › Ligations
  • 5640
  • 5777

The results of operations for the cure of cancer of the breast performed at the Johns Hopkins Hospital from June, 1889, to January, 1894.

Johns Hopk. Hosp. Rep., 4, 297-350, plate XII, 18941895.

Halsted’s operation invariably excised the pectoralis major muscle in radical mastectomy. His operation, modified by the retention of the pectoral muscles, remains the cornerstone of surgical treatment of carcinoma of the breast. Plate 12 shows the first use of rubber gloves during an operation. See No. 5640. Reprinted in Med. Classics, 1938, 3, 441-509.

Depicts the use of rubber gloves during an operation by Halsted. In a later paper (J. Amer. med. Ass., 1913, 60, 1123-24) he gives some account of this, from which it appears that he was responsible for this innovation. In Johns Hopk. Hosp. Rep., 1891, 2, 308-10, he advised the assistant to use rubber gloves while treating wounds. Halsted originally developed rubber gloves to protect the hands of his operating room nurse, who was allergic to the antisepsis chemicals. That nurse later became Mrs. Halsted. Also published in Ann. Surg., 1894, 20, 497-555. See also No. 5777.



Subjects: ONCOLOGY & CANCER › Carcinoma, SURGERY: General , SURGERY: General › Diseases of the Breast
  • 5778

A clinical and histological study of certain adenocarcinomata of the breast, and a brief consideration of the supraclavicular operations for cancer of the breast from 1889 to 1898 at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Trans. Amer. surg. Ass., 16, 144-81, 1898.


Subjects: SURGERY: General › Diseases of the Breast
  • 13224

Miniature hammers and the suture of the bile ducts.

Johns. Hopk. Hosp. Bull., 9, 67-69, 1898.

Illustrated by Max Brödel. Digital facsimile from the Hathi Trust at this link.



Subjects: SURGERY: General › Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery
  • 3639.1

Contribution to the surgery of the bile passages, especially of the common bile-duct.

Bost. med. surg. J., 141, 645-54, 1899.

“Among Halsted’s many outstanding surgical accomplishments those related to surgery of the biliary tract are lesser known. However, he is commonly credited with performing the first successful operation for a primary cancer of the ampulla of Vater” (Rutkow).



Subjects: HEPATOLOGY, ONCOLOGY & CANCER, SURGERY: General › Surgical Oncology, SURGERY: General › Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery
  • 3860

Auto- and isotransplantation, in dogs, of the parathyroid glandules.

J. exp. Med., 11, 175-99, 1909.


Subjects: ENDOCRINOLOGY › Parathyroids , TRANSPLANTATION
  • 2969

Partial progressive and complete occlusion of the aorta and other large arteries in the dog by means of the metal band.

J. exp. Med., 11, 373-91, 1909.

Halsted introduced a metal band in place of a ligature for the occlusion of arteries.



Subjects: VASCULAR SURGERY › Ligations
  • 86.3

Surgical papers.[Edited by Walter C. Burket]. 2 vols.

Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1924.

In spite of an addiction to cocaine hydrochlorate from experimentation with it as a surgical anesthetic in 1884 until his death, Halsted was among the greatest of all surgical innovators and teachers. While pioneering important new procedures, he developed the modern system of residency training and was the first to use rubber gloves in surgery. Like Lister, Halsted never wrote any books; his collected papers remain his lasting monument. Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.



Subjects: Collected Works: Opera Omnia, SURGERY: General , TOXICOLOGY › Drug Addiction