Gender reassignment surgery: male to female, a short-term analysis of post-operative outcome

Abstract

Background: The term gender dysphoria describes a heterogenous group of individuals who express varying degree of dissatisfaction with their anatomical gender and the desire to possess the secondary sexual characteristics of the opposite sex. For these individuals, gender reassignment surgery (GRS) plays a pivotal role in relieving their psychological discomfort. The literature is limited in terms of the outcome of surgery. In this study, we present surgical outcome and post-operative complications in Male to Female GRS.Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study on consecutive patients who underwent male to female (MtF) GRS at the Department of General Surgery, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Puducherry, India from March 2015 to July 2017 and demographic profile along with surgical complications were registered and analysed.Results: During the study period, a total of 59 MtF GRS were performed. The median age of the patients was 25.4 years (range 19-39). Major complications like rectovaginal fistula and pulmonary embolisms and deep venous thrombosis were not observed. The most common complications were wound infection and reactionary bleeding from the urethra.Conclusions: Gender reassignment surgery plays a pivotal role in relieving the psychological discomfort of Gender Dysphoria individuals. MtF GRS can be performed with a low rate of complications. The collaborative effort between the surgeon, behavioural scientist, and a medical physician responsible for hormonal therapy is recommended. Our short-term analysis revealed the low rate of complications. Surgical experience is the key factor to minimize the complication rate.