National Estimates of Labiaplasty Performance in the United States From 2016 to 2019

Abstract

The objective of this analysis was to provide national estimates of rates and patterns of labiaplasty performance among all payers in the ambulatory surgery setting. We used the Nationwide Ambulatory Surgery Sample database from 2016 to 2019 and estimated the annual rate of labiaplasty in the United States, along with the demographic characteristics of patients undergoing the procedure and characteristics of the facilities where the procedure was performed. The highest rate of cases was observed among adolescent and young women in the United States, with nearly 20% of all cases being performed in girls younger than age 18 years. Given the limited outcome data and potential long-term adverse events associated with this procedure, as well as the high rate of minors undergoing this procedure, more dedicated research assessing the prevalence and associated outcomes is warranted.

Health outcomes and female genital mutilation/cutting: how much is due to the cutting itself?

“…For example, recent scholarly discourse has called into question the World Health Organization's definition of FGM/C, which effectively "lumps together"-and disparages as mutilating-all medically unnecessary procedures involving "partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injury to female genital organs" [22] that are associated primarily with "African" cultures, irrespective of cutting severity or consent. Meanwhile, the WHO does not condemn medically unnecessary genital cutting practices that are normative within "Western" cultures, including some that arguably fall within their definition of "FGM/C" (such as female genital "cosmetic" surgeries) [23,24] and others that are performed on a non-voluntary basis on minors without consent [25][26][27].…”

Child genital cutting and surgery across cultures, sex, and gender. Part 1: female, male, intersex—and trans? The difficulty of drawing distinctions

“…Thus, in addition to boundary-pushing work on ritual or religious cutting of girls' vulvas (most common in parts of Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, where it is done in conjunction with ritual circumcision of boys in nearly all practicing communities) [31][32][33][34], this collection features critiques of anatomically comparable [35][36][37] vulvar modifications that are more closely associated with Western culture and which are described in that context as being "cosmetic" in nature [38][39][40][41]. These include such modifications as clitoral "unhooding" or other forms of reshaping, vaginal "rejuvenation" procedures, and the more familiar labiaplasty-the last of which is increasingly performed on adolescent girls in parts of Europe, Australasia, and the Americas [42,43].…”