Commentary on: Labia Minora Reduction Techniques: A Comprehensive Literature Review.

Abstract

Labiaplasty procedures, especially those that reduce the size of the labia minora, have increased in popularity and acceptance within both the lay and medical communities over the past decade. Surgical reduction of the labia minora, for various indications and employing assorted techniques, has been described in peer-reviewed medical literature with increasing regularity since the early 1970s. Alter's publications in the late 1990's and early 2000's, describing his novel wedge excision labiaplasty technique,1 coincided with multiple articles about female genital cosmetic surgery in popular magazines and a heightening of public awareness about this type of surgery. Subsequently, there has been a veritable explosion of labiaplasty-related publications in the scientific literature. Numerous technical “improvements,” virtually all iterations of three basic techniques—edge excision, wedge excision, or central deepitheliation/excision—have been described as ways to achieve a seemingly straightforward surgical goal: reduction of the size of the labia minora. Desiring to distill and summarize the current state of affairs regarding published labia minora reduction techniques, Oranges and colleagues2 conducted this interesting, comprehensive review of the extant world labiaplasty literature. Excluding review articles, book chapters, and discussions/commentaries, they indentify and discuss 38 studies detailing operative …