Contextualizing ovarian pain in the late 19th century - Part 2: Ovarian-based treatments of "hysteria"

John Jarrell, Frank W. Stahnisch
Journal of the history of the neurosciences · 2021 · vol. 30(4) , pp. 375–389 · doi:10.1080/0964704x.2021.1902065 · PMID:34139136 · W3170961023
Other OA: closed CC0
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This paper examines how physicians Robert Battey and Octave Terrillon interpreted ovarian pain and "hysteria" differently, leading to variations in the use of oophorectomies for treating women's pain in the late 19th century.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

The peculiar therapeutic practice of "ovarian compression"-paradoxically, both in initiating and in terminating hysterical activity-remains largely unexplained territory from both historical and medical perspectives. The gynecological indications of "hysteria" and "hystero-epilepsy" are now considered to be among similar questionable indications as contemporaneous "nymphomania" and "epilepsy." This article analyzes historical clinical observations, as well as surgical experiences of the time, to determine if there has been a uniform understanding of the ovarian contribution to "hystero-epilepsy." The respective findings are interpreted in light of the physiology of "chronic pelvic pain." Evidence for pain as a source of hystero-epileptic attacks is further represented through a series of clinical photographs suggesting a link to current problems, such as severe left-lower-quadrant pain. The emerging insights link more clearly to the functional role (le rôle fonctionnel) of the ovaries in relation to the "fits" of hystero-epileptic patients, while validating women's pain experiences during the latter part of the nineteenth century. Differences in the interpretation of disease concepts between Robert Battey (1828-1895) and Octave Terrillon (1844-1895) thereby permit an understanding of variations in the use of the removal of women's ovaries for pain.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

MeSH descriptors

Epilepsy Hysteria Female History, 19th Century History, 20th Century Humans Pelvic Pain Seizures

Citation neighborhood (2-hop)

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. Outer rings show 2-hop neighbours — papers reached through the immediate citers/citees. [ collapse to 1-hop ]

References (51)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-10-08T21:31:21.846955+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK