Ralph Pomeroy

Ralph Hayward Pomeroy (born January 12, 1867 in New York City; died August 22, 1925) was an American gynecologist who became famous after his death for a female sterilization procedure that he had developed and now carries his name as the “Pomeroy” tubal ligation.

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Pomeroy went to Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut and graduated form the Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn. He became an associate professor at the same institution in 1912, and was one of the founders of the Williamsburg Hospital, Brooklyn. He was elected as the President of the Kings County Medical Society in 1916. Pomeroy developed his technique of tubal ligation but never reported or published it. His associates, Bishop and Nelms, presented the procedure and results four years after his death at a medical meeting in 1929 and had it in print the following year. Its simplicity and effectiveness made the Pomeroy procedure a common choice for female sterilization that is still being used today.

The “Pomeroy” procedure is performed on each fallopian tube where a knuckle is created, tied with catgut, and the tube at the apex of the knuckle is severed.

References

• Bishop E, Nelms WF. A simple method of tubal sterilization. NY State J Med 1930; 30:214-6.

• Speert H. Obstetric and Gynecologic Milestones. Macmillan Co, New York, 1958.