Hindawi Publishing Corporation Obstetrics and Gynecology International Volume 2012, Article ID 649459, 9 pages doi:10.1155/2012/649459 Review Article Uterine Prolapse: From Antiquity to Today Keith T. Downing Division of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women’s Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Monteﬁore Medical Center, Bronx, NY 10461, USA Correspondence should be addressed to Keith T. Downing, kdowning@monteﬁore.org Received 2 June 2011; Revised 26 August 2011; Accepted 26 August 2011 Academic Editor: Hans Peter Dietz Copyright © 2012 Keith T. Downing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Uterine prolapse is a condition that has likely aﬀected women for all of time as it is documented in the oldest medical literature. By looking at the watershed moments in its recorded history we are able to appreciate the evolution of urogynecology and to gain perspective on the challenges faced by today’s female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgeons in their attempts to treat uterine and vaginal vault prolapse. “He who cannot render an account to himself of at least three thousand years of time, will always grope in the darkness of inexperience” Goethe, Translation of Panebaker 1. Introduction This special issue provides urogynecologists with the oppor- tunity to explore recent advances that have and will continue to propel our subspecialty forward. Simultaneously, it pro- vides us with the opportunity to look back and appreciate the landmark moments that have led us to our current state of aﬀairs. It is with this spirit, mindful of Goethe’s words, that this paper will focus its attention on a brief history of the management of uterine prolapse. 2. Antiquity to the Common Era Uterine prolapse is an ailment that has seemingly aﬀected women for all of time. In fact, the problem of uterine prolapse and its potential treatment is described in the oldest documented medical literature, the Egyptian Papyri, where it is written, “of a woman whose posterior, belly, and branching of her thighs are painful, say thou as to it, it is the falling of the womb,” (Kahun papyrus ca. 1835 B.C.E.) [1]. The Ebers papyrus goes on to recommend “to correct a displaced womb: with oil of earth (petroleum) with fedder (manure) and honey; rub the body of the patient,” (Ebers papyrus ca. 1550 B.C.E.) [2]. Over one thousand years later, during the time of Hip- pocrates (c. 460–377 B.C.E.) and the subsequent generations that he inﬂuenced, the prevailing medical thought was that the uterus acted as an animal unto itself. This concept led to treatments such as fumigation, in which pleasant fumes would be placed at a woman’s head and vile ones near her prolapsed womb, in order to stimulate the uterus to retreat. Polybus, a pupil of Hippocrates (and his son-in-law), wrote in his noted text “On Diseases of Women,” of other therapies for uterine prolapse including the application of an astringent to the womb followed by placement of a vinegar soaked sponge, or halved pomegranate. If these measures failed, women were subjected to succussion—the practice of tying a woman upside down by her feet to a ﬁxed frame and bouncing her repeatedly until her prolapse reduced then leaving her bed bound for three days with her legs tied together [3]. However, a gradual shift in medical thought began to occur toward the end of the Hippocratic era. Medicine slowly began to free itself from the inﬂuence of theurgy. By the ﬁrst century C.E. Soranus, the most notable gynecologist of antiquity, would rebuke the Hippocratic approaches to treat- ing uterine prolapse. He considered fumigation nonsensical, regarded the use of pomegranates as bruising, and deemed