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Urinary calculus associated with female genital cutting
1African Women's Health Center, Department of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. nnour@partners.org
Obstetrics and Gynecology
|February 2, 2006
Summary
Female genital cutting (FGC) complications can include urinary issues. Defibulation surgery resolved a woman's symptoms and revealed a urinary calculus, suggesting infibulated scars contribute to stone formation.
Area of Science:
- Gynecology
- Urology
- Public Health
Background:
- Female genital cutting (FGC), particularly type III, involves extensive scarring of the external genitalia.
- This practice, prevalent in parts of Africa and Asia, leads to significant long-term health complications for women.
- Defibulation, a surgical procedure to open the scar tissue, is used to treat symptoms associated with FGC.
Observation:
- A case study involved a 32-year-old Somali woman with type III FGC presenting with infertility, dyspareunia, dysmenorrhea, and pain on sitting.
- The patient underwent defibulation to reconstruct neolabia majora.
- Intraoperatively, a 0.8 cm urinary calculus was discovered beneath the urethra.
Findings:
- The defibulation procedure successfully resolved all of the patient's presenting symptoms.
- The presence of a urinary calculus suggests a link between infibulated scar tissue and stone formation.
- Infibulated scars may create an environment conducive to urine stasis and subsequent crystallization.
Implications:
- This case highlights a potential urological complication of type III FGC that may be overlooked.
- Defibulation not only addresses gynecological symptoms but can also resolve associated urinary issues.
- Further research is warranted to understand the prevalence and mechanisms of urinary calculus formation secondary to FGC.