treatments included fumigation, placing a foul-smelling object near the uterus to convince it to move into the vagina; the use of topical astringents, such as vinegar; and succussion, in which a woman was tied upside-down and shaken until the prolapse reduced. during the first century c.e., the greek physician soranus would disagree with many of these practices and recommended the use of wool, dipped in vinegar or wine and inserted into the vagina, to lift the uterus back into place. he would also go on to recommend surgical removal of gangrenous portions of a prolapsed uterus. however, these ideas did not become commonly accepted practices during that era, and the middle ages brought about a return to previous beliefs and practices for uterine prolapse. in 1603, for instance, it was recommended that burning the prolapsed uterus with a hot iron would frighten it back into the vagina. andreus vesalius, professor of anatomy at padua, published de humani corporis fabrica libri septem in 1543, which included an accurate depiction of the entire female genital tract, including the uterus towards the end of the 16th century, pessaries became more common in the management of uterine prolapse, due in part to advances in anatomic knowledge of the female genitourinary tract earlier in the century. pessaries were usually made out of wax, metal, glass, or wood. charles goodyear's invention of volcanized rubber in the mid 1800s made it possible to produce pessaries that would not decompose. however, even into the 1800s, alternative practices were still used, such as the use of sea-water douches, postural exercises, and leeching. although the use of surgery in the treatment of uterine prolapse had been described previously, the 19th century saw advances in surgical techniques. during the mid to late 1800s, surgical attempts to manage uterine prolapse included narrowing the vaginal vault, suturing the perineum, and amputating the cervix. in 1877, lefort described the process of a partial colpocleisis. in 1861, choppin in new orleans reported the first instance in which vaginal hysterectomy was performed for uterine prolapse. prior to that, vaginal hysterectomies were mainly performed for malignancies. following alwin mackenrodt's 1895 publication of a comprehensive description of the female pelvic floor connective tissue, fothergill began working on the manchester-fothergill surgery with the belief that the cardinal and uterosacral ligaments were key support structures for the uterus. in 1907, josef haban and julius tandler theorized that the levator ani muscles were also very important for uterine support. combined with a better understanding of female pelvic floor connective tissue, these ideas would go on to influence surgical approaches for the treatment of uterine prolapse. by the early 20th century, different techniques for vaginal hysterectomies had been described and performed. as a result, post-hysterectomy vaginal vault prolapse became more common and a growing concern for some surgeons, and new techniques to correct this complication were attempted. in 1957, arthure and savage of london's charing cross hospital, suspecting that uterine prolapse could not be cured with hysterectomy alone, published their surgical technique of sacral hysteropexy. their technique is still used in modern practice with the addition of a graft. society and culture vaginal mesh kits were introduced to the u.s. market in 2004 through the u.s. food and drug administration (fda) pathway that did not require companies to demonstrate both safety and efficacy of the product if they were able to demonstrate that their product was similar to previous products already in the market. however, there was concern over reports of increased rates of postoperative complications over the next several years. that, in addition to the lack of available data that transvaginal mesh products were superior to other forms of surgical intervention and the expedited process which the vaginal mesh kits were introduced to the market, the fda released a safety communication in 2011 that described serious complications associated with transvaginal mesh as "not rare". in 2019, the fda ordered manufacturers to halt sales transvaginal mesh intended for repair of pelvic organ prolapse. this does not include surgical mesh used during sacrocolpopexy, sacrohysteropexy, or transurethral sling procedures. since 2008, a number of class action lawsuits have been filed and settled against several manufacturers of transvaginal mesh after people reported complications following surgery.