Last Updated: 2003-01-09 10:00:36 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Laser surgery can provide a quick way to undo some of the harm of the most severe form of female genital mutilation (FGM), according to Italian researchers.

FGM, in which all or part of the external female genitalia are removed, is widely practiced in many African and Asian nations. It is a deeply rooted cultural tradition intended, in part, to preserve a girl's chastity and make her more "attractive." The World Health Organization, however, calls FGM a violation of human rights.

In the most severe form of genital cutting, called infibulation, the clitoris and labia minor are removed and the labia major--the two outer skin folds of the vulva--are stitched together to form only a small opening for urine and menstrual flow.

Infibulation also carries the greatest physical and emotional consequences. Among the long-term physical complications are recurrent urinary tract infections, pelvic inflammatory disease, pain during sex and complications during pregnancy and childbirth.

But even this extensive FGM can be partially reversed by outpatient laser surgery, without complications, according to the authors of the new study.

They found that a laser-beam incision restored a complete vulvar opening for all 25 women in the study. The doctors were also able to "vaporize" genital cysts that had formed in five women.

And all of the women were able to go home about 30 minutes after the laser treatment, according to Dr. Carlo Penna and colleagues at the University of Florence.

They report their findings in the December issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Of the 25 women--nearly all of whom were from Somalia and had undergone FGM as infants--seven were pregnant when they had the laser procedure. Four were later able to have vaginal deliveries without complication, according to the report.

In addition, Penna's team writes, the medical problems linked to infibulation are "often solved." Among the laser-surgery patients they were able to follow for six months or more, "no case of FGM-related problems...persisted," the researchers report.

Because of growing immigration, the doctors note, more and more women in Western countries may start seeking such "deinfibulation."

"On the basis of the advantages that were observed," they conclude, "deinfibulation treatment must be offered to all infibulated patients."

SOURCE: American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 2002;187:1550-1554.

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I hope this treatment is made possible for whoever needs it. Anyone know if there has been a charity set up for this, or if any of the medical charities are involved?

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