The Use of Pessaries.

The days of the common use of pessaries are long since past. A foreign exchange publishes an account of a death from a retained pessary. I at one time removed a pessary that had been retained for two and one-half years. There are many cases recorded of serious results from the use of the pessary, such as deep ulceration, cancers developing from the ulcerations, cicatricial changes which have taken place, permanently deforming the parts.

However, one case is recorded in which the cicatricial contractions were so great that the prolapsis was permanently relieved. Quite a large number of serious results other than the above have occurred, such as perforation, and the formation of fistulae.

The fatal case above referred to was one in which the pessary had been worn for over thirty years. The pessary escaped through the vaginal walls into the abdominal cavities by extreme ulceration, and procidentia followed. The patient died from embolism of the pulmonary artery.

Ellingwood's Therapeutist, Vol. 2, 1908, was edited by Finley Ellingwood M.D.