Porro

Porro Edouard (Edoardo Porro, 1842-1902), outstanding Italian obstetrician of the late 19th century; born in Padua, received his medical education in Pavia and here (1876-82) held the chair of obstetrics; in 1882 he moved to Milan, where he remained until his death. On May 21, 1876, Porro performed a cesarean section in the case of absolute pelvic contraction and due to profuse bleeding from the uterine incision decided to amputate the uterus, suturing the stump extraperitoneally. The operated patient survived - this was the first case in Italy of cesarean section with a favorable outcome for both mother and child. The unexpected success prompted Porro to describe his case and recommend uterine amputation as a routine addition to cesarean section ("Amputazione utero-ovarica cesarea", Ann. univ. di med. e chir., v. CCLXIII, 1883). Porro's proposal was received favorably, and the operation itself was named after him. However, with the improvement of classical cesarean section technique (see Cesarean section), Porro's operation receded to the background and its application at the present time is extremely limited. The merit of Porro is nevertheless very great - with his operation he revived interest in cesarean section and thereby contributed to its true significance.