Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 18, 2025
Author Spotlight: Advancing Human Ovarian Repair and Cancer Studies with Surface Epithelium Organoids
Published on: August 16, 2024
Nonhormone-Related Histologic Findings in Postsurgical Pathology Specimens From Transgender Persons
Archan Kakadekar1, Dina N Greene2, Robert L Schmidt3
1Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
Objectives:
The objective of this review is to characterize the literature addressing postprocedural complications in persons undergoing gender-affirming surgeries.
Methods:
A literature search using the OVID MEDLINE and PubMed databases was performed to identify all studies describing histologic findings in surgical pathology specimens from transgender persons from 1946 to April 2021. The studies describing postsurgical complications were categorized based on anatomic site, type of complication, study design, publication region, and date.
Results:
Thirty-nine studies describing postsurgical complications in transgender women were identified. The most common sites of postprocedural pathology included the breasts and neovagina, with additional studies including buttocks and thighs, cutaneous sites, and the pulmonary system. Most of the literature comprised case reports, followed by case series and comparative studies. The search did not identify any studies of complications secondary to masculinizing surgeries.
Conclusions:
This body of literature is small but growing. Most studies are case reports. There are significant gaps in the literature. The literature in this area is not yet mature enough to support a meta-analysis.
