[A bloody boldness: amputations of the neck of the womb in France at the beginning of the 19th century].

During the 1820s and 1830s the number of uterus cervix amputations increases in France, becoming a speciality for some famous surgeons such as Jacques Lisfranc. Since the end of the 1820s, however, the operation is known as useless and dangerous by specialists, and censured in medical papers. Why did Lisfranc carry on operating? This paper tries to clear up the intricate reasons of this success and this passion, by exploring the scientific and technical context, but also the social and professional struggles in the rising art of 19th-century surgery. Thus, it attempts to understand how therapeutic choices or medical practices can be constructed.