How it began
Francis Rynd (1801 to 1861) was born in Dublin, educated at Trinity College Dublin, and worked as a surgeon at the Meath Hospital. In May 1844 he treated Margaret Cox, aged 59, who had severe facial neuralgia. He introduced a solution of morphia in creosote under the skin along the course of the affected nerves. He published the method in the Dublin Medical Press in 1845.
How it works
Rynd placed the drug in fluid form directly beneath the skin, next to the nerve that was causing pain, using a hollow needle instrument of his own design. In 1861 he published a description of the cannula and trocar he had used. He applied the technique to facial neuralgia and to sciatica.
Who pushed back
Priority for the subcutaneous injection was later disputed. Rynd described his instrument in print in 1861 in order to affirm his claim, writing that the subcutaneous introduction of fluids for the relief of neuralgia was first practiced in Ireland by him at the Meath Hospital in May 1844.
What lasted
Rynd is credited with the first documented hypodermic injection and with inventing the hypodermic needle used in syringes. Medical historians describe his work as a significant advance in the way drugs are given and in the development of injection technique. He died in Clontarf, Dublin, in July 1861.
