No abstract

We performed a historical cohort study of 62 consecutive patients who underwent abdomino-perineal vaginal re-construction with a segment of the sigmoid colon during a 25-year period. A dedicated database was reviewed for the aetiology of vaginal malformation, surgical complications and post-operative follow-up. Follow-up visits were scheduled 2, 6 and 12 months after discharge from hospital and annually thereafter. Fifty-eight (93.5%) patients were diagnosed as having Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome (MRKHS) and four (6.5%) had undergone previous demolitive surgery for gynaecologic malignancy. The mean operating time was 145 min (range 95 to 250 min). The mean hospital stay was 8.3 days (range 5 to 23 days). Post-operative complications requiring additional surgery occurred in 3 (4.8%) patients and were a case of necrotising fascitiis with leakage of the bowel anastomosis, a case of bowel occlusion and a case of neovaginal prolapse. The mean follow-up was 11.3 years (range 3 months to 24 years). We recorded 5 cases (8.1%) of sigmoid graft shrinkage treated successfully by dilation. The time interval between sigmoid vaginoplasty and first intercourse was 4 months (range 2 months to 4 years). During the follow-up, 32 (51.6%) women reported regular and 30 (48.4%) women reported occasional sexual intercourse; 80.6% (50/62) were "satisfied" with the surgical procedure. In this large series, laparotomic sigmoid vaginoplasty was a safe and acceptable technique to treat congenital absence of the vagina. This procedure allowed early sexual intercourse and was associated with a low incidence of shrinkage and a high rate of patients' satisfaction.