The Liston knife is a type of knife used in surgical amputation. The knife was named after

Robert Liston Robert Liston (28 October 1794 – 7 December 1847) was a British surgeon. Liston was noted for his speed and skill in an era prior to anaesthetics, when speed made a difference in terms of pain and survival. He was the first Professor of Cl ...

,Kirkup, John: ''The Evolution of Surgical Instruments'', 2005
/ref> a Scottish surgeon noted for his skill and speed in an era prior to

anaesthetics An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two ...

, when speed made a difference in terms of pain and survival. The knife was made out of high-quality metal and had a typical blade length of 6–8 inches. Surgical amputation knives came in many styles and changed very much between 1840 and the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. These changes reflect changes in techniques used by the surgeons and makers of surgical knives during the period. Amputation blades from the 18th century to the 1840s are generally known for their distinctive "down" curving blades. By 1870, amputation blades had become straighter, and more closely resembled the "Liston" European style. Since the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

ended in 1856, it is likely the American Civil War had a greater impact on long slender blade style than the actual Dr. Liston. The dedicated task of amputation may be more responsible for the Liston title than any specific design. It is noted by collectors that the handles on earlier knives (pre-1850) are of a much bigger and heavier construction. The majority of the history of amputation blade evolution is referenced from the medical textbook ''Handbook of Surgical Operations'', U.S.A. Medical Department, 1863, written during the Civil War by Stephen Smith, M.D., with various drawings from the medical literature credited to Bourgery & Jocob.

In popular culture

The knife has gained association with

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer w ...

fiction due to its mention in the ''

From Hell ''From Hell'' is a graphic novel by writer Alan Moore and artist Eddie Campbell, originally published in serial form from 1989 to 1998. The full collection was published in 1999 by Top Shelf Productions. Set during the Whitechapel murders of ...

'' graphic novel and film adaptation. A liston knife appears as a weapon in the 2018 video game ''

Vampyr ''Vampyr'' (german: Vampyr – Der Traum des Allan Gray, lit=Vampyr: The Dream of Allan Gray) is a 1932 horror film directed by Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer. The film was written by Dreyer and Christen Jul based on elements from J. She ...

''. It is also featured in the 2019 video game ''

Days Gone ''Days Gone'' is a 2019 action-adventure video game developed by Bend Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. A Windows port was released in May 2021. The game is set in post-apocalyptic Oregon two ...

'' as an item that must be collected for a survivor camp infirmary.

References

Jack the Ripper Medical knives Surgical instruments {{medical-equipment-stub

In popular culture

See also

References