Trilobal Methods for Composite Reduction Labiaplasty

Abstract

Background: It is difficult to plan a simple and effective surgical strategy for patients with horizontal and vertical redundant tissue of the labia minora and clitoral hood redundancy. A single edge resection or wedge resection labiaplasty with clitoral hood reduction that simultaneously resolves these three issues has yet to be reported. This study investigated the clinical effects and safety of trilobal labiaplasty via a composite incision.

Methods: The single-center, retrospective, observational study included data from patients with hypertrophy of the labia minora and clitoral hood who underwent trilobal labiaplasty.

Results: Altogether, 136 patients (average age: 31.6 ± 8.82 years; range: 21-53 years; 224 sides) sought surgery for aesthetic (39/136, 28.7%), functional (17/136, 12.5%), or both reasons (80/136, 58.8%). Overall, 134 patients (134/136, 98.5%) were followed up for 3 months. No serious complications or malformations occurred. Three patients (2.2%) underwent secondary repair surgery due to incomplete bilateral symmetry, 122 (91.0%) scored ≥ 21 points on the Female Genital Self-Image Scale, 107 (91.5%) were satisfied with the cosmetic outcomes, and 93 (95.9%) were satisfied with the functional improvement.

Conclusions: Trilobal labiaplasty performed via a composite incision using edge and wedge labiaplasty to adjust horizontal and vertical hypertrophy of the labia minora and remove lateral folds of the clitoris is a safe and effective method to improve the appearance and rearrange the position of the clitoral hood and clitoral frenulum while preserving the fine structure of the surrounding tissue. This method results in few complications and high functional and aesthetic satisfaction rates.

Level of evidence iv: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Keywords: Clitoral hood redundancy; Edge resection; Labia minora hypertrophy; Labiaplasty; Wedge resection.