J. Marion Sims

J. Marion Sims, born James Marion Sims on January 25, 1813 in Hanging Rock , South Carolina is a surgical pioneer and considered the father of American gynecology. He died November 13, 1883 in New York, New York. His statue can be found in Central Park.

Contents

1 Early career 2 Repair of vesico-vaginal fistula 3 New York and Europe 4 Contributions 5 Critique 6 Reference

Early career

After studying medicine with Dr.Churchill Jones in Lancaster, South Carolina, and at the Medical College of Charleston, he moved to Philadelphia and graduated from Jefferson Medical College in 1835. He returned to Lancaster to practice, but after the death of his first two patients moved to Alabama.

Repair of vesico-vaginal fistula

Women with vesico-vaginal fistulas that were usually the result of traumatic labor were in those days social outcasts. No cure was available. In Montgomery Sims developped a new technique to repair this condition. His innovations set the stage for vaginal surgery. Sims devised instruments including the Sims' speculum to gain proper exposure. The knee-chest position is also named after him as Sim's position. He insisted on cleanliness. His technique using silver sutures led to successful repair of a fistula and was reported in 1852. His long-suffering subjects, three slaves, Anarcha, Betsy, and Lucy, are not to be forgotten: they underwent about 40 operations in his quest to find a cure.

New York and Europe

Because of health reasons, Sims moved to New York in 1853 where he founded the first hospital for women in America. In 1862 he moved to Europe, and worked primarily in London and Paris. In 1871 Sims returned to New York, and after quarreling with the board of the Woman's Hospital over the admission of cancer patients (which he favored), went on to found a new hospital, later to evolve into the Memorial Center for Cancer and Allied Diseases.

Contributions

• Vaginal surgery: fistula repair
• Instrumentation: Sims' speculum
• Surgical positioning: Sims' position
• Fertility treatment: Insemination
• Postcoital test

Critique

The experimental treatment of slave women and use of multiple operations in a time when anesthesia was not available has been criticized. [1]

Reference

Speert H. Obstetrics and Gynecologic Milestones. The MacMillan Co., New York, 1958, pages 442-54.