Objective To investigate the surgical procedures and outcomes of repairing the wound in the posterior wall of vaginal orifice by labium minus flap transfer, when vagina tightening plastic surgery is performed on the patient with scar in the posterior wall of vaginal orifice and labium minus hypertrophy. Methods From May 2007 to May 2008, 10 patients suffering from postpartum vaginal relaxation combined with scar in the posterior wall of vaginal orifice and labium minus hypertrophy were treated. The patients aged 28-40 years old and the width of their labium minus was 3-5 cm. Six ofthem had coitus pain. Vaginal tightening surgery was performed, meanwhile the hypertrophic labium minus was preparedinto the anterior-pedicle labium minus flap (4 cm × 1 cm-5 cm × 1 cm) and the posterior-pedicle labium minus flap (3 cm × 2 cm-4 cm × 3 cm), respectively. The posterior-pedicle labium minus flap was transferred inwards by 90° to repair the wound caused by the resection of the scar, and the anterior-pedicle labium minus flap was sutured in situ to form the new labium minus. Results All the posterior-pedicle labium minus flaps survived, except for 3 cases in which the epidermis 1 cm around the distal end of posterior-pedicle labium minus flap was exfol iated and recovered 2 weeks after hi p bath with potassium permanganate solution (1: 5 000). All the anterior-pedicle labium minus flaps survived, and all the incisions healed by first intention. Over the follow-up period of 2-8 months, all the patients were satisfied with their vulva configuration, good elasticity of vaginal orifice and no tenderness pain of vaginal orifice. The sensitivities to feel ing, such as touch and pain, of the transferred labium minus flap were similar to the normal labium minus. Postoperatively, the coitus pain disappeared, 7 cases had much better sex l ife and 3 cases had no significant improvement in sex l ife. Conclusion Transferring labium minus flap to vaginal orifice is an effective way to improve the coital pain resulted from the scar of vaginal orifice.
Objective To investigate the effect of vaginal reconstruction with autologous buccal micro-mucosa graft. Methods From March 2007 and April 2008, 10 patients with absence of vagina were treated, aged 18-31 years (mean 26 years). Nine of them were congenital absence of vagina, and the remaining one was vaginal stenosis after vaginal reconstruction.They all exhibited normal secondary sexual characteristics, normal hormonal levels and 46, XX karyotype. Their abdominal ultrasounography revealed the normal ovaries and tubes but absence of the uterus or small rudimentary horns. However the one with vaginal stenosis had normal uterus. The buccal mucosa graft was minced into 0.5 mm in size and was transplanted to the cavity which was dissected between the bladder and the rectum. Results The operation was performed successfully in all cases. The operative time was about 1-2 hours and operative blood loss was 80-100 mL. Postoperative compl ication occurred in only one case for vaginal bleeding. The patient recovered and the wound healed well after immediate management. The others healed primarily without any compl ications. All cases were followed up for 4-16 months. The depth of neovagina which was formed was 6-10 cm and the width was about two fingers. The l ining was pink-colored and smooth, and was confirmed as nonkeratizing squamous stratified mucosa by histopathological examination. The donor sites healed uneventfully with no change in mouth opening. The perineal area was not disturbed. Four patients were married and satisfied with their sexual l ife without pain and bleeding. Conclusion Vaginal reconstruction with autologous buccal micro-mucosa graft is an easy, minimally invasive and useful method.