Peer-reviewed article
Surgical management of female genital mutilation-related morbidity: A scoping review.
Chappell AG, Sood R, Hu A, Folsom SM, Wafford QE et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This scoping review examined surgical approaches to treating complications from female genital mutilation (FGM) across 190 articles from 29 countries. The review found that surgical interventions span multiple medical specialties, including defibulation, reconstruction, and cyst excision. The authors conclude that multidisciplinary collaboration is needed to treat FGM survivors effectively. However, the review identified a significant lack of high-quality evidence on long-term outcomes and quality of life for patients.
Key points
- Over 200 million women and girls worldwide have experienced FGM
- 190 articles from 29 countries were included in the scoping review
- Reported interventions include defibulation, cyst excision, clitoral and vulvar reconstruction, urological reconstruction, and peripartum procedures
- The majority of articles (76%) were primary source studies, predominantly from obstetrics and gynecology (71%)
- A paucity of high-quality evidence exists regarding functional quality of life outcomes and long-term follow-up
Limitations
This is a scoping review of the literature rather than an evaluation of specific interventions, so it cannot determine which surgical approaches are most effective. The review does not synthesise outcome data or assess the methodological quality of individual studies, limiting what can be concluded about the actual effectiveness of different surgical procedures.
Abstract
Background Over 200 million women and girls worldwide have suffered from the partial to total removal of external female genitalia for nonmedical purposes, referred to as female genital mutilation (FGM). Survivors of FGM may develop debilitating physical and psychological long-term sequelae. This is the first study to examine the scope of the extant surgical literature on the management of FGM-related morbidity. Methods A systematic scoping review of five major research citation databases was conducted. Results A total of 190 articles from 29 countries met the inclusion criteria. The majority (76%) were primary source articles and from obstetrics and gynecology literature (71%). Reported interventions for FGM-related morbidity were defibulation, cyst excision, clitoral and vulvar reconstruction, urological reconstruction, peripartum procedures, labial adhesion release, and reinfibulation. Conclusions Surgery for FGM complications spans multiple specialties, which suggests multidisciplinary collaboration benefit. Plastic and reconstructive surgeons have a clear role in the multidisciplinary care team for these patients. This scoping review identified a paucity of high-quality evidence with respect to functional quality of life outcomes and long-term follow-up.