Stenosis of the neovagina is a late postoperative complication of male-to-female sex reassignment surgery when patients do not have frequent sexual intercourse or do not perform vaginal dilation.
A 39-year-old male-to-female transsexual who had sex reassignment surgery, in which a segment of sigmoid colon was used for neovagina construction, developed total introital stenosis and subsequent peritonitis caused by bowel perforation of the colon conduit.
To avoid stenosis of the neovagina, an inflatable silicon vaginal stent should be used all day for 30 days, then for 3 months overnight or until sexual function is regular.
In sex reassignment surgery, bowel perforation can occur after vaginoplasty with a colon conduit owing to total introital stenosis.
Department of Urology, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy.
Address reprint requests to: Giovanni Liguori, MD, Department of Urology, University of Trieste, Via Franca 5, 34123 Trieste, Italy. E-mail: liguorig@usa.net
Received July 26, 2000. Received in revised form October 16, 2000. Accepted November 9, 2000.
