Long Term Outcome of Surgical Treatment of Central Introital Dyspareunia

Abstract

Controversies remain regarding the preferred treatment strategy for central introital dyspareunia. The primary goal of this retrospective study was to evaluate the short- and long-term outcomes after operative management of central introital dyspareunia by widening hymenoplasty. In total, 513 patients were included, with a follow-up time of 10 years. We assessed the repair of sexual activities, quality of sexual life, and the prevalence of pregnancies after the procedure. In addition, general health status was assessed using the EuroQol-5D questionnaire. Of the 513 women operated on during the period of January 2009 until December 2019, 380 (74%) agreed to participate by sending a valid response. Eighty-seven percent of the respondents mention no to moderate pain for longer than one week after the procedure, while 9.5% and 4% of patients recalled the procedure as severely or extremely painful, respectively. Seventeen percent of patients recalled a complication; 13.2% reported prolonged healing or postoperative pain, 4.7% reported infection, and 2.4% reported bleeding. Twelve months after surgery, 72% experienced no or only slight pain during penetration. We can conclude that widening plasty of the posterior hymenal rim and vestibulum, performed as an ambulatory care procedure under local anesthesia, resolves more than 70% of the central introital pain problems one year after surgery.