title: Acute urinary retention in an adolescent as the presenting symptom of lichen sclerosus et atrophicus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A rare case of acute urinary retention caused by labial fusion in an adolescent is described and the possible causes are discussed.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 17-year-old girl, not sexually active, presented to our emergency service for acute urinary retention. Genital examination revealed labia minora fusion from the clitoris to the vaginal fourchette; urethra, and clitoris were not visualized. Sexual abuse and trauma were excluded. The labia minora were manually separated in the operating room revealing a normal vagina and urethral meatus. Skin biopsies taken from the fused labia minora revealed Lichen Sclerosus et Atrophicus.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Urinary retention may be seen in the face of complete adhesion of the labia minora, a rare event in postpubertal individuals. In such cases, a suspicion of underlying pathology such as asymptomatic Lichen Sclerosus should be raised and be confirmed by a biopsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Ziv Medical Center, Bar-Ilan Faculty of Medicine, Safed, Israel. Electronic address: naama.m@ziv.health.gov.il.
authors.forename: Naama
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Marcus-Braun
authors.forename: Zidan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hasan
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Szvalb
authors.forename: Inbar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ben Shachar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018459:Lichen Sclerosus et Atrophicus / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016055:Urinary Retention / Q000209:etiology*; D014844:Vulva / Q000473:pathology
keywords: Adolescent; Labial fusion; Lichen sclerosus et atrophicus; Urinary retention