‘Current Researches in Anaesthesia and Analgesia Research Society Inc.’ was first published bimonthly by the National Anaesthesia Research Society Inc., with Francis McMechan (Fig. 34.2) its instigator and editor. Though wheelchair-bound by rheumatoid arthritis, McMechan was a dynamic and enthusiastic advocate for the advancement of anaesthesia practice and research. Described as one of “the most militant figures of the history of the speciality” [5], he realised the need for a journal that would promote the specialty and disseminate the results of research. McMechan’s involvement in editing and publishing began with his appointment by Managing Editor, Joseph McDonald, in 1914 as editor of a ‘Quarterly Supplement’ (‘Anesthesia and Analgesia’) to the ‘American Journal of Surgery’. McMechan recruited the transactions of meetings of anaesthetists worldwide to publish in his Supplement. In the process he became known to medical researchers and leaders in the development and manufacturing of anaesthetic agents and commercial design of equipment. With McDonald’s death in 1922, McMechan campaigned to establish a formal anaesthesia research organisation to continue the activities of the supplement. Thus in August of that year McMechan founded the National Anaesthesia Research Society which then published its own journal. McMechan was justifiably proud of this journal, actively discouraging the establishment of an alternative. Anesthesiology’s first edition in 1940, had to await McMechan’s death, as mentioned below.

The second page of Volume 1, Number 1 of ‘Anaesthesia and Analgesia’ lists the members of the Board of Convenors of the National Anesthesia Research Society and the research committee. It contains many notable names such as McKesson and Guedel. The journal’s title changed in 1925 when the National Anesthesia Research became the International Anesthesia Research Society.

In 1909 McMechan married actress Laurette van Varsveld (Fig. 34.3), who assumed the role of constant carer/companion of her husband. McMechan, with Laurette at his side, travelled nationally and internationally to Canada, England, and the European continent. In his travels, McMechan met a young Australian, Geoffrey Kaye. On McMechan’s strong recommendations, in 1934 Kaye became the principal instigator and founder of the Australian Society of Anaesthetists, initiating the long path to establishing the Australian Journal, ‘Anaesthesia and Intensive Care’, in 1972. McMechan inspired similar actions by others in Canada. Laurette, in the 1920s and 30s, became widely known and highly regarded for her contribution to her husband’s journal, so much so that after his death in June 1939, she was appointed Assistant Editor and continued in that role until her death in 1970.

There were relatively few editors-in-chief of ‘Anesthesia and Analgesia’ over its almost 90 years of existence, promoting continuity of style. Its second editor, Howard Dittrick was succeeded by Thomas Seldon (1959–1976), then Nicholas Greene (1976–1990), Ronald Miller (1990–2006), and currently, Steven Shafer.

The 1940 November–December issue of ‘Anesthesia and Analgesia’ published a eulogy to McMechan by Omar Ranney, followed by tributes from Kaye, the then Secretary of the Australian Society of Anaesthetists. McMechan was more than founder of Anesthesia and Analgesia. As Kaye wrote to Laurette McMechan:

“He was an inspiration. We admired his courage, which rose superior to every physical disability. We admired his amazing knowledge of anaesthesia. We recognised in him a man of culture, with the wide and tolerant outlook which was capable of converting a national into an international endeavour…Above all, I think we admired his vision and the ideal to which it led him. He was not the parent of American anaesthesia, although he was, more that any man, its co-ordinator. Of international anaesthesia, however, he was both co-ordinator and parent” [6,7].

Other journals appeared between the first issues of ‘Current Researches in Anaesthesia and Analgesia’ in 1922 and its rival ‘Anesthesiology’ in 1940. In 1923–4 the ‘British Journal of Anaesthesia’ arrived, followed in 1935 by the French journal, ‘Anesthesie et Analgesie’ and the Argentinean journal ‘Revista Argentina de Anestesia y Analgesia’.

The ‘British Journal of Anaesthesia’ was the second major English language journal. It was first published in July 1923 and edited by Hyman Cohen until 1928. Initially a soldier in the United States Army, Cohen married a Manchester girl in 1904, then entered medical training at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. He graduated in 1916 and became a full-time anaesthetist. He introduced his journal as a publication “devoted entirely to the interests of anaesthesia and its practitioners”, saying that the journal “anticipates acting, not only as the mouthpiece for those who desire to give public expression to the results of their research and experience, but to place before its readers, an account of what is being done generally in the anaesthetic world” [8].

In 2002, J Norman of Southampton, UK published a paper entitled “The British Journal of Anaesthesia’An Informal History Of The First Twenty-Five Years”, listing the pioneer founders in this developing medical specialty as SR Wilson and HEG Boyle, of the University of Manchester, F Shipway, J Bloomfield, DW Buxton from London, HB Fairlie from Glasgow and AJ O’Leary from Liverpool [9]. Although of necessity reducing publication from quarterly to twice a year for most of World War II, this journal flourished thereafter, rising high in the ranks of anaesthesia journals.

In 1935, ‘Anesthésie et Analgésie’, the official publication of the French Society of Anaesthesia and Analgesia was launched. In the first issue, the chief editor, Robert Monod explained that the Society aimed to create a “review of anaesthesia in the French language” [10], and that, like anaesthesia journals established before and after, it sought to document research in the laboratory and in clinical practice, impartially and without bias.

Volumes 1 and 2 of ‘Revista Argentina de Anestesia y Analgesia’ were published in 1939–40 (Fig. 34.4). Articles came mostly from Argentina, but also included one paper each from France and Italy, making ‘Revista Argentina de Anestesia y Analgesia’ possibly the first journal with an international list of contributors. In his introductory editorial, Emilio Forgue, a Member of the Academy of Surgery and a Corresponding Member of the Institute of France, noted the widely differing techniques of anaesthesia used in different countries in the late 1930s, the choices varying according to the medical school and hospital traditions and the results of their research. He argued that the safest anaesthesia is “the one with which the anaesthetist has most experience” [11]. He acknowledged the originality and leadership of Americans at the time in the use of inhalational agents, while anaesthetists in Germany led the way in the use of regional techniques. Forgue was a protagonist of regional anaesthesic techniques. In contrast, in France he noted that particularly in Lyon, preference was given to intravenous induction.

Antonio Gutierrez, a Member of the National Academy of Medicine and Honorary professor of the Faculty of Medicine in Buenos Aires, wrote an editorial in the second issue of ‘Revista Argentina de Anestesia y Analgesia’, May–August 1939 titled, ‘What is a Surgical Operation from the physical-biological point of view?’ In answer, he described the ‘offence, injury and aggression’ inflicted, and the subsequent responsibility of the anaesthetist to support the patient [12]. Both editorials were forthright and apposite, applying equally well in the present day.

In March 1935, John Lundy approached Maurice Fishbein, editor of the ‘Journal of The American Medical Association’, to suggest establishing a second American anaesthesia journal under the auspices of the American Medical Association (AMA). Lundy was keen to increase the quality and quantity of scientific papers published in the field of anaesthesia. He believed that his anaesthetic colleagues would back this venture, and wrote to fifty-five of the most prominent of these to gather their support. The response was mixed. Although agreeing that another American anaesthesia journal would be an otherwise appropriate venture, Arthur Guedel expressed concern that establishing a second journal might offend McMechan. In contrast, Guedel’s friend, Ralph Waters, then professor of the world’s first academic Department of Anesthesiology at Madison, Wisconsin, agreed with Lundy that a second journal would be an “excellent idea” and that contributions from his department would support the venture. Other responses were less positive, so the project was temporarily shelved. Lundy suspected that McMechan had negatively influenced some of those surveyed [13].

After McMechan died in June 1939, plans quickly proceeded for establishment of ‘Anesthesiology’. On November 4, the Journal Committee and the Publishing Committee of the American Society of Anesthesiologists met, appointing Henry Ruth as first Editor in Chief with Ralph Tovell and E.A. Rovenstine as Associate Editors and Paul Wood as Managing Editor. An Editorial Board was then appointed with four Contributing Editors and nine Consulting Editors. An Editorial Policy Committee was then established to act as a steering Committee to determine editorial policy. The first issue opened with an unusual essay by Howard Haggard, Director of the Laboratory of Applied Physiology at Yale University. His article entitled “The Place of the Anesthetist in American Medicine” was a transcript of a paper presented at a meeting of the Society of Anesthetists at the New York World Fair, New York City on October 12, 1940. This was a newly established Section on Anesthesiology of the AMA, held during its ninety-first annual session in New York City, October 10–14, 1940. Haggard’s essay neither praised nor faulted anaesthesiologists [14]. His intent was to impress on the listener/reader that public opinion and an appreciation of the practice of anaesthesia as a professional skill were crucial to the development of the specialty. He maintained that the anaesthetist must shape public acceptance of the specialty of anaesthesia by the achievements of the anaesthetist in education, training and scientific development in physiology, pathology, biochemistry and general scientific endeavours. Haggard believed that good practical skills and professional personal presentations of anaesthetists to their patients were essential to the acceptance of the specialty of anaesthesia in its own right [14].

Volume 1, Number 1 continued with Guedel’s review of his use of cyclopropane over the previous eight years in more than eight thousand cases, discussing controlled respiration, the production of abdominal relaxation, the presence of cardiac arrhythmias and techniques of administration. A readable, uncontrolled study of practice by one of the “great” anesthesiologists of the day [15].

‘Anaesthesia’, the Journal of the Association of Great Britain and Ireland, was established in 1946, remarkably soon after World War II. Its Editor was Cecil Hewer and Sub-Editor R. Blair Gould, with J.F. Gillies representing Scotland. Alfred Webb Johnson, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England provided an introduction to this inaugural issue [16].

“I am grateful for the invitation to write a Foreword to this first number of the Quarterly Journal ‘Anaesthesia’, for it not only gives me the opportunity to wish the Journal every success, but also to say how pleased I am that the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland has decided to launch a periodical publication on this important subject.

“The year of the celebration of the centenary of the first operation under general anaesthesia in this country is a most opportune time for the institution of a Journal which will make British teaching and records of discovery and achievement available to the medical profession throughout the world. It is very fitting that the country which made such valuable contributions in the early days of anaesthesia by the pioneer work of Hickman, Simpson, Snow and Clover should be represented in the medical literature of the subject.”

Hewer’s editorial followed in the same vein, justifying the establishment of

this new publication: “…the rapid advance in all types of anaesthetic and analgesic technique requires fuller and quicker expression than can be provided in the overloaded columns of the general medical press. The full and accurate presentation of observations, theories, new methods etc., is essential if true advance is to be maintained and if unprofitable detours are to be avoided.”

Henry Featherstone, the first President of the Association of Anaesthetists, wrote of the “Inception and…Purpose” of the Association and its aims, objectives and formulated rules as set out at its establishment in 1930, and the subsequent successful introduction of a Diploma of Anaesthesia. This first issue also included a nine-page article by President AD Marsten on the “Centenary of Anaesthesia in Great Britain” in 1946, chronicling the events preceding the launch of “Anaesthesia” [17].

Thereafter followed twenty pages of dissertations on curarisation, local anaesthesia for abdominal operations, and an assessment by Noel Gillespie from Canada of the effect that World War II had on the “Position of the American Anaesthetist”. The journal also included a case report, a review, abstracts and Association news. A small volume descriptive of anaesthetic interests of the time, ‘Anaesthesia’ quickly grew in stature and physical dimensions, from a small A5 quarterly booklet, half the size of its currently conventional A4 format, now issued monthly.

However, with the establishment of ‘Anaesthesia’ with such self-confidence it would be wrong to assume there was no rivalry between the long-established British Journal of Anaesthesia and this newcomer to the scene of anaesthesia journals. It was as if an unfair advantage of opportunity was being taken to rise above the British Journal of Anaesthesia which had suffered badly as a consequence of World War II because of a severe lack of papers offered for publication and a shortage of paper for printing of many medical journals at the time. It is fair to say that not all representatives of the Association of Great Britain and Ireland were in agreement with this proposal. This rivalry that the commencement of a second British journal aroused is clearly set out in a work by Thomas B. Boulton, titled ‘The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland 1932–1992, and the Development of the Specialty of Anaesthesia’. Ultimately the British Journal recovered from the ravages of wartime, while Anaesthesia maintained popularity as a more clinically orientated publication [17].

‘Revista Brasiliera de Anestesiologica’, the official publication of the Brazilian Society of Anaesthesiology, commenced publication in 1951, its first editor being Oscar Ribeiro. Ribeiro’s introductory editorial was in Portuguese, while the second, by Ralph M. Waters, was in English. In nine pages, Waters congratulated his Brazilian colleagues for their inauguration of the first journal of anaesthesiology in a Portuguese-speaking country and the second in Latin America. Waters gave a broad overview of the development of the specialty of anaesthesia from the latter part of the nineteenth century when, in the US, the administration of anaesthesia was largely entrusted to the temporarily idle medical student, intern, general practitioner, nurse or any individual who happened to be nearby. He then described the development of the specialty of anaesthesia through the 1940s, listing in detail the obligations of service, teaching and research. He also described the qualities of the “Good Anesthesiologist”, citing the physical strength needed to practise well, moral obligations to the patient, the obligation to display a spirit of friendly cooperation with those with whom he works, and how he must “serve as the balance wheel which governs the smooth running of the machine of which he is a part. In short, he can make or break the success of the surgical team His pronouncement is as true today as it was some sixty years ago [18].

From 1951 to 1960, a profusion of anaesthesia journals emerged in Europe, the Middle East and the Far East. In April 1952, the first issue of the Japanese Journal of Anesthesiology was published. There were five Editors of this first issue; Shichiron Isikawa, Myoshi Urabe, Kingo Shinoi, Tikashi Suzuki and Shinobu Myamoto. In his Foreword, Tamotsu Fukuda, Professor of Surgery at Juntendo University in Tokyo, stated that several factors increasingly allowed surgeons to successfully perform major surgery, attributing their growing success to the development and availability of antibiotics including penicillin, and to “aggressive” pre- and postoperative management of their patients. He observed that regional anaesthesia had in the past, been the preferred technique, with reasonable results, but emphasised that it was now time for his anaesthesia colleagues to emulate anaesthesiologists in Europe and the United States, to allay not only the intraoperative pain of surgery but to continue their management of the patient as a whole, through surgery and the postoperative period. Generally known as ‘Masui’, the ‘Japanese Journal of Anaesthesiology’ is a Japanese language journal and is still in regular production [19].

The Japanese word ‘masui’ has an interesting story in itself. The news of the administration of successful anaesthesia in 1846 and the developments which followed spread quickly around the world with the publication of books such as Schlesinger’s German book on ether anaesthesia. By 1848, six copies of the Dutch edition of this book had reached Japan and a Japanese edition was published in 1850. Seikei Sugita, an official translator of the Shogunate, executed the translation, coining the Japanese word ‘masui’, meaning ‘paralysis and unconsciousness’.

The ‘Journal of Anaesthesia’, the journal of the Japanese Society of Anaesthesiologists is published in English. This journal made its debut in March 1987, its first Editor-in-Chief being Keisuke Amaha, with Kenjiro Mori (Kyoto University), Takesuke Mateki (Kurume University) Ryo Ogana (Nippon), Reiji Shimizu (Jichi) and Jurichi Yoshitake (Kyushu University) as co-founding editors. Indexed from Volume 17 in 2003, it achieved citation status in 2010. In parallel with other well-known journals, it has increased its publication from an initial two issues a year through four and now six issues per year.