[Spread of Hanaoka's method of general anesthesia with Mafutsu-san: a discussion of surgical operations by Sanai Hashimoto].

It had been generally accepted that Hanoaka's secretiveness was the most contributory factor in preventing his method of general anesthesia with Mafutsusan from becoming wide spread in Japan. However, the author found several cases of the use of general anesthetic according to his method in various areas in Japan. For instance, Doryu Mikami, a surgeon of the Tsugaru feudal clan entered Hanaoka's school to study his medicine for several years and came back to Tsugaru to perform an amputation of the nose of a young lady with syphilis in about 1864. Hanaoka's method of general anesthesia was also practised safely in the Saga area of Kyushu even in the year of about 1900. The author studied in detail two cases of surgical operation under general anesthesia performed by Sanai Hashimoto, a physician of the Fukui feudal clan. One case was an amputation of the penis but no further detailed information was given to us. The other was an excision of the breast cancer of Toko Yoshida's wife. Yoshida was Hashimoto's teacher of Chinese literature. The operation was successful and the patient was reported to have survived three years after the operation. These facts strongly suggest that the method had been transmitted and practised in many districts in Japan by many disciples of his school. However, such cases have not been reported in detail. Thus the widely rumoured evaluation of Hanaoka's secretiveness is incorrect.