Joseph-Claude-Anthelme Récamier (November 6, 1774 – June 28, 1852) was a French gynecologist.

He was born in Cressin-Rochefort

Cressin-Rochefort

Cressin-Rochefort is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France.-Population:-References:*...

, Ain

Ain

Ain is a department named after the Ain River on the eastern edge of France. Being part of the region Rhône-Alpes and bordered by the rivers Saône and Rhône, the department of Ain enjoys a privileged geographic situation...

. For much of his professional career he was associated with the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris

Hôtel-Dieu de Paris

The Hôtel-Dieu de Paris is regarded as the oldest hospital in the city of Paris, France, and is the most central of the Assistance publique - hôpitaux de Paris hospitals. The hospital is linked to the Faculté de Médecine Paris-Descartes...

, where in 1806 he became chief physician. He was also a professor at the Collège de France

Collège de France

The Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...

 and a member of the Faculté de médecine

Académie Nationale de Médecine

Académie Nationale de Médecine, or National Academy of Medicine was created in 1820 by king Louis XVIII at the urging of baron Antoine Portal. At its inception, the institution was known as the Académie Royale de Médecine...

.

Récamier is credited with the popularization of several instruments in gynecological medicine, including the curette

Curette

A curette is a surgical instrument designed for scraping biological tissue or debris in a biopsy, excision, or cleaning procedure. In form, the curette is a small hand tool, often similar in shape to a stylus; at the tip of the curette is a small scoop, hook, or gouge...

, vaginal speculum

Speculum (medical)

A speculum is a medical tool for investigating body cavities, with a form dependent on the body cavity for which it is designed. In old texts, the speculum may also be referred to as a diopter or dioptra...

 and the uterine sound

Sound (medical instrument)

In medicine, sounds are instruments for probing and dilating passages within the body, the best-known examples of which are urethral sounds and uterine sounds. Some people enjoy using them for urethral play.-Urethral sounds:...

. In his 1829 treatise Recherches sur le traitement du cancer, he coined the term "metastasis

Metastasis

Metastasis, or metastatic disease , is the spread of a disease from one organ or part to another non-adjacent organ or part. It was previously thought that only malignant tumor cells and infections have the capacity to metastasize; however, this is being reconsidered due to new research...

" as a definition for the spread of cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

.

"Récamier's operation" is a term used for curettage

Curettage

Curettage, in medical procedures, is the use of a curette to remove tissue by scraping or scooping.Curettages are also a declining method of abortion. It has been replaced by vacuum aspiration over the last decade....

 of the uterus

Uterus

The uterus or womb is a major female hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ of most mammals including humans. One end, the cervix, opens into the vagina, while the other is connected to one or both fallopian tubes, depending on the species...

.

Selected writings

• Recherches sur le traitement du cancer (Research on Treatment of Cancer); 1829.
• Recherches sur le traitement du cholera-morbus (Research on Treatment of Cholera); 1832.