Abstract:

© 2015 by John Wiley {&} Sons Ltd. All rights reserved. Female genital reconstruction remains a highly controversial and emotive topic. Whilst short-term surgical complications of such procedures occur and are important to manage correctly, it is the long-term complications that have caused such concern and debate. Correlation of any particular surgical procedure to its later success or failure can be almost impossible. Complications of genital surgery such as vaginal stenosis may make intercourse painful or impossible, but the pediatric surgeon responsible for the initial vaginal reconstruction will never have the opportunity to follow patients into adult life when such complications become apparent. The success of genital reconstruction in sexual function and reproduction is often not tested until many years after the procedure. Surgeons and procedures change and adult patients may have had operations that have long been modified or abandoned in favor of something else.