General anaesthetic, which allows patients to become unconscious and insensible to pain during major surgery, was first successfully used by which pioneering physician?

Introduction / Context:
General anaesthesia is a major breakthrough in medical history because it enables surgeons to perform complex and painful operations while the patient is unconscious and does not feel pain. Before the advent of general anaesthetic, surgery was extremely traumatic and limited. This question asks about one of the earliest physicians to successfully use a form of general anaesthetic in a surgical operation, highlighting an important milestone in medical practice.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The focus is on general anaesthetic, which renders a patient unconscious during surgery.
• The question asks who first used or developed such an anaesthetic for major surgery.
• The options list names from very different areas, including literature, clothing and other inventions.
• Only one option corresponds to a pioneering surgeon known for early general anaesthesia.

Concept / Approach:
Hanaoka Seishū was a Japanese surgeon who is recognised for performing one of the first documented surgeries under general anaesthesia in the early nineteenth century. He used a herbal preparation called tsusensan to render his patient unconscious during a breast cancer operation. Alfred P. Southwick is associated with the electric chair, Isaac Singer with improvements to the sewing machine and Murasaki Shikibu is a famous Japanese writer known for The Tale of Genji. These figures are not linked to anaesthetic breakthroughs. Therefore, in the context of this question, Hanaoka Seishū is the correct choice as an early pioneer of general anaesthesia.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Understand that general anaesthetic refers to drugs or preparations that produce full unconsciousness during surgery.Step 2: Recognise that only a trained medical practitioner or surgeon is likely to be associated with this milestone.Step 3: Eliminate Isaac Singer, who is connected to sewing machines, and Alfred P. Southwick, known for work on the electric chair, because they are not surgeons developing anaesthesia.Step 4: Eliminate Murasaki Shikibu, who is a classical author and has no connection to medical science.Step 5: Identify Hanaoka Seishū as a Japanese surgeon documented for early use of general anaesthetic in surgery.Step 6: Select Hanaoka Seishū as the correct answer.

Verification / Alternative check:
Histories of anaesthesia often mention several pioneers, including Hanaoka Seishū in Japan and later Western physicians who used ether and chloroform. Hanaoka work is notable because it predates many Western reports and involved fully unconscious patients during major operations. The other names in the options appear in completely different contexts, such as literature, sewing machines and penal technology, and are never mentioned in anaesthesia timelines. This separation confirms that Hanaoka Seishū is the best answer among the given choices.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Alfred P. Southwick worked on the idea of using electricity for executions and is associated with the electric chair, a very different use of technology. Isaac Singer improved the sewing machine and helped make it popular in households and factories, but did not discover anaesthetic techniques. Murasaki Shikibu is a classical Japanese novelist known for literary contributions, not medical practice. None of these individuals introduced general anaesthetic for surgery, so options A, B and C are incorrect for this question.

Common Pitfalls:
Students may sometimes guess based on name familiarity or cultural association rather than checking whether the person is a medical practitioner. Another pitfall is assuming that anaesthesia must have been developed in a Western country and therefore overlooking Japanese pioneers like Hanaoka Seishū. To avoid such mistakes, always check whether the person field of work matches the domain of the invention in the question. Associating Hanaoka Seishū with early general anaesthesia is a useful fact to remember for medical history related MCQs.

Final Answer:
General anaesthetic was first successfully used in surgery by Hanaoka Seishū.