This deep dive covers WW1: Key Medical Developments within War and Medicine for GCSE History. Revise War and Medicine in Medicine Through Time for GCSE History with 8 exam-style questions and 3 flashcards. This topic appears regularly enough that it should still be part of a steady revision cycle. It is section 3 of 15 in this topic. Use this deep dive to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
Topic position
Section 3 of 15
Practice
8 questions
Recall
3 flashcards
🧠 WW1: Key Medical Developments
Blood transfusions: Oswald Robertson (US Army) showed in 1917 that adding sodium citrate to blood prevented clotting, allowing it to be stored for days. Blood banks were established at the front, saving many soldiers from fatal haemorrhage — and creating the concept used by all modern civilian transfusion services.
X-rays — precision over guesswork: Before WW1, surgeons probed blindly for shrapnel, causing extra tissue damage and infection. Marie Curie's mobile X-ray units ("petites Curies") brought X-ray imaging to field hospitals near the front, letting surgeons see exactly where metal fragments were lodged before cutting. This reduced surgery time, minimised tissue damage, and cut post-operative infection rates. Curie trained 150 women radiographers and approximately one million soldiers were X-rayed by 1918.
Plastic surgery: Harold Gillies established the first dedicated plastic surgery unit at Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup, performing over 11,000 operations on soldiers with devastating facial injuries. He developed the "tubed pedicle" skin graft technique, codified the specialty in his 1920 textbook, and established plastic surgery as a recognised medical discipline.
Brain surgery: Harvey Cushing developed techniques for treating head wounds that significantly reduced mortality from brain injuries — further evidence that WW1's mass casualties forced rapid surgical innovation.