Who had the first sterilised operating theatre (aseptic surgery)?

• A. Robert Koch
• B. Charles Chamberland
• C. Berkeley Moyniham
• D. Gustav Neuber

Answer: (D)

The idea being tested is how a true sterile operating environment was first created to prevent infection during surgery. Gustav Neuber is the person who established the first sterilised operating theatre in the 1880s, in Hamburg. He showed that not only the instruments and the surgeon’s technique mattered, but the entire room and setup did too. His approach included a dedicated sterile theatre, careful preparation, and methods to keep the environment free from germs, which laid the foundations for modern aseptic surgery. The other figures contributed important advances—germ theory, filtration and sterilization techniques, and later improvements in surgical hygiene—but they did not inaugurate the first sterilised operating theatre.