Graefenberg Ring

The Graefenberg-Ring was one of the first intrauterine devices that was developed by the German physician Ernst Graefenberg . It was a ring wrapped with silver wire that was placed in the uterus and had no connection to the vagina .

history

Graefenberg gave a lecture on its development as early as 1928, but it was not until 1959, two years after Graefenberg's death, that his invention found recognition as a contraceptive method.

As early as 1929 he presented the results of a study on 1,100 women that showed a pregnancy rate of three percent when using a ring made of silk . The following year, he was able to show the results of a test with silver spirals, which brought it to a pregnancy rate of 1.6 percent. The fact that the silver used had a copper content of around 26% contributed significantly to the better results . The effect of the copper ions in this context was not known until about 40 years later.

This ring was in use until it was replaced by plastic pessaries in the 1960s . The use of the Graefenberg ring was less dangerous at the time and the ring could remain in place longer than conventional pessaries. In contrast to these, inflammations, injuries and deaths should not have occurred at the Graefenberg Ring. However, there have also been reports of such complications.

The Japanese doctor Tenrei Ota had developed a similar ring around the same time. He used gold and silver for this and added a rigid center disc to prevent expulsion. Oota and Graefenberg rings are still partly in use in the Far East.

literature

E. Graefenberg: Silk as Anticoncipient. In: K. Bendix: Birth regulation - lectures and negotiations of the medical course from 28.-30. December 1928. Self-published, Berlin 1929.
W. Oppenheimer: Prevention of pregnancy by the Graefenberg ring method. In: Am J Obstet Gynecol. 78, 1959, pp. 442-447, PMID 13670226 .
WA van Os: From Graefenberg to the Multiload Cu 250 - the development of the so-called spiral. In: Tijdschr Ziekenverpl. 33 (16), Aug 12, 1980, pp. 739-745, PMID 6903023 .
L. Margulies: History of Intrauterine Devices. In: Bull NY Acad Med. 51 (5), 1975, pp. 662-667, PMID 1093589 , PMC 1749527 (free full text)

Web links

Individual evidence

^ Ernst Graefenberg: From Berlin to New York. ( Memento from June 16, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
^ TB Davies: The Graefenberg Ring. In: Br Med J. 1 (3705), 1932, p. 76. PMC 2519991 (free full text)
^ MD Saigal: In: J Indian Med Assoc. 39, 1962, pp. 192-195. PMID 14496055
^ T. Ota: A study on the birth control with an intrauterine instrument. In: Jpn J Obstet Gynecol. 17, 1934, pp. 210-214. PMID 12305346
↑ Effective "protection of women". ( Memento from July 10, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) at: diestandard.at , December 14, 2006.
↑ A. Gyang, p Mirando: Gräfenberg ring retained for 15 years: a case report. In: Eur J Contracept Reprod Health Care. 11 (4), 2006, pp. 319-321, PMID 17484200 .

[1] Ernst Graefenberg: From Berlin to New York. ( Memento from June 16, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )

[2] TB Davies: The Graefenberg Ring. In: Br Med J. 1 (3705), 1932, p. 76. PMC 2519991 (free full text)

[3] MD Saigal: In: J Indian Med Assoc. 39, 1962, pp. 192-195. PMID 14496055

[4] T. Ota: A study on the birth control with an intrauterine instrument. In: Jpn J Obstet Gynecol. 17, 1934, pp. 210-214. PMID 12305346

[5] Effective "protection of women". ( Memento from July 10, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) at: diestandard.at , December 14, 2006.

[6] A. Gyang, p Mirando: Gräfenberg ring retained for 15 years: a case report. In: Eur J Contracept Reprod Health Care. 11 (4), 2006, pp. 319-321, PMID 17484200 .