A Review of Sexual Function Following Genital Burns: An Understudied, Morbid, and Rare Condition

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction Genital burns are rare but devastating injury that can impart long term physical and emotional distress to patients. Most victims of genital burns are male patients while the highest prevalence occurs during 0-12 years of age. While the techniques to either conservatively or surgically repair genital burns have been detailed, to our knowledge there have not been a retrospective review following up on the sexual function of these patients after their reconstruction. Objective We aim to call attention to articles that analyze sexual function after genital burns and identify the lack of research in this subject. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis by searching through PubMed for key words including “Genital burns, male female, genital, burns” and excluding the word “burning” as it commonly describes a symptom rather than the injury. We selected papers that described techniques for how they treated genital burns regardless of whether they followed the sexual function of the patient after treatment. We found 31 papers that fit our criteria with many of the papers focusing on surgical intervention. These 31 papers were analyzed and categorized on whether they analyzed sexual function. For the purpose of this review, sexual function was divided into the broad categories of aesthetic, function, sensation, psychological, and reproduction. Results Of the 31 papers reviewed, there were 8 studies that assessed aesthetic satisfaction, 7 that assessed function, 9 that assessed sensation, 1 that assess psychological impact, 3 that assess reproduction capabilities, and 13 studies did not address any of these categories in their findings (table 1). Papers that studied surgical interventions for genital burns in any capacity were more likely to also study sexual function as opposed to studies that focused on conservative management. Some gaps in the literature that we noted were that while the papers acutely followed up in sexual function, we could find no incidence of a long-term retrospective review on sexual function after repair. Conclusions Given that many of the patients suffering from genital burns are children, it is difficult to adequately understand the long-lasting effects some of these treatments have as they mature. While it would be difficult to follow up with these patients, it is important to understand the best treatment option for patients with genital burns. Disclosure No