Liston, Robert (1794-1847)

Scottish surgeon. He perfected the complicated method of amputating by flaps. On 21 December 1846 he performed the first major operation under anaesthetic (amputation of the thigh) in Britain.

He was born in Ecclemachan, Linlithgow, and educated by his father, the parish minister, and at Edinburgh University. He studied for two years at the London and St Bartholomew's hospitals, returning to Edinburgh in 1818. In 1827 he was appointed surgeon to the Royal Infirmary. In 1834 he returned to London as surgeon at University College Hospital. In 1835 he became professor of clinical surgery at University College. His chief works are Elements of Surgery (1831-32), and Practical Surgery (1837).