Vesicovaginal fistula

Abstract

Genitourinary fistulas in women have existed since time immemorial. Genitourinary fistulas in women have existed since time immemorial. Derry [1] of Cairo, in 1935, while examining the Henhenit mummy, who was either a queen or dancer in the court of Mentuhotep of the eleventh dynasty, Egypt (circa 2050 BC), found an extensive urinary fistula and complete tear of the perineum -- the result of difficult labor. Avicenna [2], the Perso-Arab physician of over a millennium ago, in his Al-Kanoon, warns the physician of the incurability and lifelong curse of fistulas. Reports of Van Roonhuyse [3] in 1663 and Fatio [4] in 1752 described early successes using quills. However, it was not until the nineteenth century and the pioneering work of James Marion Sims [5] in Montgomery, Alabama, that the first successful repair of vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) using silver-wire sutures was carried out, in 1849. This success set the stage for modern surgical techniques and earned Sims the title of father of modern gynecology. © 2006 Springer-Verlag London Limited.