Verk

Lobotomy

Stockholm|1949|Fotojournalistik, Vetenskapshistoria

Lennart Nilsson was granted the exclusive Scandinavian rights to document a lobotomy operation at Södersjukhuset in Stockholm in 1949. Sensitive viewers are warned: the images are graphic and may also be disturbing.

Lobotomi på Södersjukhuset 1949

Someone had come up with the bold idea that anxiety could be surgically removed…

  • “Associate Professor Olof Sjöqvist, seen here ready for the operation, is one of the pioneers of frontal lobotomy in Sweden. He has performed such operations for seven years, working throughout in close collaboration with the psychiatrist Gösta Rylander.” "Docent Olof Sjöqvist, som här ses redo inför operationen, hör till pionjärerna i Sverige för frontallobotomien. Han har utfört sådana operationer i sju år, hela tiden i intimt samarbete med psykiatrikern Gösta Rylander." ©Lennart Nilsson Photography/SPL
  • “Here Associate Professor Sjöqvist is seen marking the position of the procedure on the patient.” “Här ses Docent Sjöqvist markera ingreppets position på patienten.” ©Lennart Nilsson Photography
  • © Lennart Nilsson Photography/SPL
  • “Throughout the operation, pulse and blood pressure are monitored. During the most critical stage, the surgeon speaks with the patient to determine the effect of the procedure.” "Under hela operationen kontrolleras puls och blodtryck. Under det viktigaste skedet talar operatören med patienten, för att fastställa vilken verkan ingreppet har." ©Lennart Nilsson Photography/SPL
  • “After the skin and muscles have been separated, the doctor drills through the bone using a so-called trephine. He then cuts through the tough dura mater and clamps all bleeding vessels with silver clips.” "Sedan hud och muskler åtskilts borrar läkaren med en s.k. trepan genom benet. Därefter skär han igenom den hårda hjärnhinnan och klämmer med silverklämmor åt alla blödande kärl." ©Lennart Nilsson Photography/SPL
  • “The patient must remain fully conscious at all times and be able to communicate with the surgeons.” "Patienten måste hela tiden vara vid fullt medvetande och kunna prata med kirurgerna." ©Lennart Nilsson Photography/SPL
  • “Here they have reached the critical stage — the severing of the nerve pathways. This is performed with an instrument called a teltom and usually has an immediate calming effect on patients suffering from anxiety.” "Här har man hunnit till det avgörande stadiet – avskärning av nervbanorna. Den utföres med ett instrument kallat teltom och brukar genast ha en lugnande effekt på patienter som liter av ångest." ©Lennart Nilsson Photography/SPL
  • “Injection with 37-degree saline solution, its concentration matching that of the blood.” "Injektion med 37-gradig koksaltlösning, var koncentration stämmer med blodets." ©Lennart Nilsson Photography
  • “Iodized oil (lipidol) is injected into the incision plane for immediate radiographic examination.” "Jodolja lipidololja) sprutas in i snittplanen för omedelbar röntgenundersökning." ©Lennart Nilsson Photography/SPL
  • “The patient is transferred to radiology; the head is photographed from the front and the side, and the plates are developed immediately to clarify the position of the incision plane and determine whether any bleeding has occurred in the brain.” "Patienten överförs till röntgen, huvudet fotograferas framifrån och från sidan, och plåtarna framkallas genast för att klargöra snittplanets läge och fastställa om några blödningar uppstått i hjärnan." ©Lennart Nilsson Photography/SPL
  • “The operation is complete, the wound is sutured, and a dressing is applied to the head.” "Operationen är slutförd, såret sys ihop, förband läggs på huvudet." ©Lennart Nilsson Photography/SPL
  • Lennart Nilsson was granted the exclusive Scandinavian rights to follow a lobotomy operation at Södersjukhuset in Stockholm in 1949. Lennart Nilsson fick den skandinaviska ensamrätten att följa en lobotomioperation på Södersjukhuset i Stockholm 1949. ©Lennart Nilsson Photography/SPL
  • "Wandlung der Psyche", Weltspiegel, Tyskland, 12 maj 1949
  • “Associate Professor Olof Sjöqvist, seen here ready for the operation, is one of the pioneers of frontal lobotomy in Sweden. He has performed such operations for seven years, working throughout in close collaboration with the psychiatrist Gösta Rylander.” "Docent Olof Sjöqvist, som här ses redo inför operationen, hör till pionjärerna i Sverige för frontallobotomien. Han har utfört sådana operationer i sju år, hela tiden i intimt samarbete med psykiatrikern Gösta Rylander." ©Lennart Nilsson Photography/SPL
  • “Here Associate Professor Sjöqvist is seen marking the position of the procedure on the patient.” “Här ses Docent Sjöqvist markera ingreppets position på patienten.” ©Lennart Nilsson Photography
  • © Lennart Nilsson Photography/SPL
  • “Throughout the operation, pulse and blood pressure are monitored. During the most critical stage, the surgeon speaks with the patient to determine the effect of the procedure.” "Under hela operationen kontrolleras puls och blodtryck. Under det viktigaste skedet talar operatören med patienten, för att fastställa vilken verkan ingreppet har." ©Lennart Nilsson Photography/SPL
  • “After the skin and muscles have been separated, the doctor drills through the bone using a so-called trephine. He then cuts through the tough dura mater and clamps all bleeding vessels with silver clips.” "Sedan hud och muskler åtskilts borrar läkaren med en s.k. trepan genom benet. Därefter skär han igenom den hårda hjärnhinnan och klämmer med silverklämmor åt alla blödande kärl." ©Lennart Nilsson Photography/SPL
  • “The patient must remain fully conscious at all times and be able to communicate with the surgeons.” "Patienten måste hela tiden vara vid fullt medvetande och kunna prata med kirurgerna." ©Lennart Nilsson Photography/SPL
  • “Here they have reached the critical stage — the severing of the nerve pathways. This is performed with an instrument called a teltom and usually has an immediate calming effect on patients suffering from anxiety.” "Här har man hunnit till det avgörande stadiet – avskärning av nervbanorna. Den utföres med ett instrument kallat teltom och brukar genast ha en lugnande effekt på patienter som liter av ångest." ©Lennart Nilsson Photography/SPL
  • “Injection with 37-degree saline solution, its concentration matching that of the blood.” "Injektion med 37-gradig koksaltlösning, var koncentration stämmer med blodets." ©Lennart Nilsson Photography
  • “Iodized oil (lipidol) is injected into the incision plane for immediate radiographic examination.” "Jodolja lipidololja) sprutas in i snittplanen för omedelbar röntgenundersökning." ©Lennart Nilsson Photography/SPL
  • “The patient is transferred to radiology; the head is photographed from the front and the side, and the plates are developed immediately to clarify the position of the incision plane and determine whether any bleeding has occurred in the brain.” "Patienten överförs till röntgen, huvudet fotograferas framifrån och från sidan, och plåtarna framkallas genast för att klargöra snittplanets läge och fastställa om några blödningar uppstått i hjärnan." ©Lennart Nilsson Photography/SPL
  • “The operation is complete, the wound is sutured, and a dressing is applied to the head.” "Operationen är slutförd, såret sys ihop, förband läggs på huvudet." ©Lennart Nilsson Photography/SPL
  • Lennart Nilsson was granted the exclusive Scandinavian rights to follow a lobotomy operation at Södersjukhuset in Stockholm in 1949. Lennart Nilsson fick den skandinaviska ensamrätten att följa en lobotomioperation på Södersjukhuset i Stockholm 1949. ©Lennart Nilsson Photography/SPL
  • "Wandlung der Psyche", Weltspiegel, Tyskland, 12 maj 1949

”…that one could simply put the knife to the soul and make it well again. Indeed, this had not only been a thought experiment; a surgical technique had already been developed in this field, and it was known that frontal lobotomy — as the procedure was called, involving the severing of certain nerve pathways in the frontal lobe of the brain — had in many cases restored at least part of the health of people who had been suffering severely.”

“Neither Dr. Dagberg — who has experience with around sixty cases at the Psychiatric Hospital — nor the surgeons performing frontal lobotomies deny that the operation also has some unwelcome outcomes. The main disadvantages are that the patients, as has been suggested, often become somewhat empty and superficial, frequently tactless, brusque, and intrusive; they become children of the moment, with a reduced ability to plan for the future and anticipate the consequences of their actions.”

Sören Bendrik, Vecko-Journalen 12/1949

The text has been translated from Swedish to English with the help of ChatGPT.

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