Dr. Richard Gordon, a surgeon and medical historian, calls Liston the "fastest knife in the West End." His style may have seemed careless, but in the age before anesthesia, speed was essential to ...

Dr Liston was known as the 'fastest knife in the West End' after he amputated a patient's leg in 30 seconds. He was a charismatic Scotsman who began running a surgery in London in 1840.

Scottish surgeon Robert Liston was known as the “Fastest Knife in the West End,” amputating a leg in under 30 seconds. ... Dr Lindsey Fitzharris is a medical historian and author of the best ...

Liston handed the knife to one of the surgical dressers, who, in return, handed him a saw. The same assistant drew up the muscles, which would later be used in forming an adequate stump for the ...