Intestinal vaginoplasty: is it optimal treatment of vaginal agenesis? A pilot study: Surgical method of sigmoid colon vaginoplasty in vaginal agenesis

The outcome of 11 cases with vaginal agenesis who underwent intestinal vaginoplasties are presented. Patients were between 18 and 37 years old. Ileum vaginoplasty and sigmoid colon vaginoplasty were carried out in two and nine cases, respectively. Ileum necrosis at donor site requiring ileum resection and bilateral ileostomy encountered in one of the cases was the major complication. Mild stenosis responsive to finger dilatation had been detected in two women with sigmoid vaginoplasty. Excess mucous production, long operation time, and shortness of mesentery of ileum led us to abandon ileum vaginoplasty, and sigmoid colon vaginoplasty was performed in the following cases with vaginal agenesis. All of the neovaginas were patent and functional. We suggest sigmoid colon vaginoplasty as the treatment of choice because of its large lumen, thick walls resistant to trauma, adequate secretion allowing lubrication, not necessitating prolonged dilatation, short recovery time compared with ileum vaginoplasties; and in patients reluctance to prolonged use of dilatators or in those who experienced previous failure of the other treatment modalities.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]