Psychosexual outcome after labiaplasty: a prospective case-comparison study.
OBJECTIVE
Our goal was to determine psychosexual outcome after labiaplasty in the long-term with specific measures of genital body image and sexual dysfunction.


METHODS
We conducted a prospective study with a matched-comparison group of women not wanting labiaplasty. Forty-nine women were compared against a group of 39 women matched for age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and marital status. The labiaplasty group was assessed before, 3 months after and between 11 and 42 months after surgery. The comparison group was assessed at two time points 3 months apart to control for the passage of time. The primary outcome measure was the Genital Appearance Satisfaction (GAS) scale.


RESULTS
Of the 49 women receiving labiaplasty, 19 (38.8 %) were lost to follow-up but were reassessed clinically. Twenty-four of 25 (96 %) women in the labiaplasty group showed a reliable and clinically significant improvement on the GAS scale 3 months after the procedure; 21/23 (91.3 %) showed an improvement at the long-term follow-up. A large effect size was found for improvements on the GAS scale in the labiaplasty group. Small-effect sizes were found for improvements in sexual functioning. Nine women obtaining labiaplasty met diagnostic criteria for body dysmorphic disorder before the operation; eight lost that diagnosis at the 3-month follow-up; 26 % reported minor side effects.


CONCLUSIONS
Labiaplasty is effective in improving genital appearance and sexual satisfaction, but larger studies are required to determine the prevalence of potential side effects.
Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London & Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma, The Maudsley Hospital, 99 Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AZ, UK, David.Veale@kcl.ac.uk.
David
D
Veale
Iona
I
Naismith
Ertiniss
E
Eshkevari
Nell
N
Ellison
Ana
A
Costa
Dudley
D
Robinson
Lanka
L
Abeywickrama
Angelica
A
Kavouni
Linda
L
Cardozo
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D013509:Gynecologic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014844:Vulva / Q000601:surgery*