Belly-Rippers, Surgical Innovation and the Ovariotomy Controversy

by Sally Frampton

This open access book looks at the dramatic history of ovariotomy, an operation to remove ovarian tumours first practiced in the early nineteenth century. Bold and daring, surgeons who performed it claimed to be initiating a new era of surgery by opening the abdomen. Ovariotomy soon occupied a complex position within medicine and society, as an operation which symbolised surgical progress, while also remaining at the boundaries of ethical acceptability. This book traces the operation's innovation, from its roots in eighteenth-century pathology, through the denouncement of those who performed it as 'belly-rippers', to its rapid uptake in the 1880s, when ovariotomists were accused of over-operating. Throughout the century, the operation was never a hair's breadth from controversy. This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.

278 pages, Hardcover

Published October 9, 2020

Reviews

[Frrobins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good history of the procedure, but I was interested in how it was misused as a "cure" for insanity and the book barely touched on it. If you're interested in medical history this would be a good fit though.