Is Rectosigmoid Vaginoplasty Still Useful? Seok-Kwun Kim, Ji-Woen Park, Kwang-Ryeol Lim, Keun-Cheol Lee Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Dong-A University School of Medicine, Busan, Korea Original Article Background The ideal vaginoplasty must be successful functionally as well as have a natural Correspondence: Seok-Kwun Kim appearance, and also must retain its functionality and appearance over the long term. Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Dong-A Conventional vaginoplasty techniques have functional limitations and are associated with University School of Medicine, 26 recurrent complications, but rectosigmoid vaginoplasty is known to have a high satisfaction Daesingongwon-ro, Seo-gu, Busan rate due to its functional similarity with the vagina. We conducted the present study to 49201, Korea assess the usability of rectosigmoid vaginoplasty over the course of long-term follow-up. Tel: +82-51-240-2807 Fax: +82-51-243-5416 Methods From March 1992 to February 2014, 84 patients were treated with rectosigmoid E-mail:
[email protected] vaginoplasty; 44 had gender identity disorder, 29 had vaginal agenesis, 8 had female pseudohermaphroditism, and 3 had gynecologic malignancies after radical pelvic surgery. This retrospective study was based on a review of the patients’ records, clinical examinations, complications, and questionnaires about appearance, function, and sexual intercourse. Results All patients who underwent rectosigmoid vaginoplasty were discharged within 2 weeks without surgical flap loss. The early complications were partial flap necrosis, difficulty in defecation, mucous hypersecretion, and postoperative ileus. The late complications were vaginal introitus contracture, vaginal prolapse, and difficulty in urination. The mean length and diameter of the neovagina 3.4 years after rectosigmoid vaginoplasty were 13.2 cm and 3.8 cm, respectively.