Methylene blue
Synthetised as a textile dye by Heinrich Caro in 1876
Nearly every field in medicine has dabbled with methylene blue. Pathologists have used it as a tissue stain, Gynaecologists spray it around during colposcopies, Physicians use it to treat methaemoglobinaemia and cyanide poisoning, Cardiac surgeon employ it to reverse vasoplegia, Orthopods colour their cement with it, Psychiatrists have used it for Bipolar disorder, and of course it had a run as a treatment for COViD19. In my days as a General surgeon, I used methylene blue to locate gastrointestinal fistulae. In Breast surgery it can be employed to produce a crude sentinel lymphangiogram. As an Endocrine surgeon you can inject it intravenously to identify parathyroid glands, a practice that makes anaesthetists and their oximetry probes very unhappy, as more often than not the whole patient turns blue. Like turmeric and apple cider vinegar before it, methylene blue is currently having a moment as a widely touted social media agent for cancer therapy. If it does have a role in oncological care, it will be as a sensitising agent in photodynamic therapy. Methylene blue absorbs light between 630-680nm and releases tumour destroying reactive oxygen species. #smurfpatients #letsmakelemonade
Pen Paint and Scalpel 