J. Marion Sims - Contributions

Contributions

• Vaginal surgery: fistula repair.
• Instrumentation: Sims' speculum; Sims' sigmoid catheter.
• Surgical positioning: Sims' position.
• Fertility treatment: Insemination and Postcoital test.
• Cancer care: Sims argued for the admission of cancer patients to the Woman's Hospital, a position that was fought as many believed the condition to be contagious.
• Abdominal surgery: Sims advocated that in the case of an abdominal bullet wound a laparotomy was needed to stop bleeding, repair the damage and drain the wound. Thus his opinion was sought when President James Garfield was shot and transmitted by telegram from Paris. Sims' recommendations later gained acceptance.
• Gallbladder surgery: In 1878, Sims drained a distended gallbladder and removed its stones. He published the case believing it was the first of its kind, however, a similar case was reported in Indianapolis in 1867.