PNM-03 Sexual Reassignment Surgery - Initial Experience

Abstract

Transsexuality is classified as a sexual identity disorder characterised as a desire to live and to be accepted as a person of the opposite sex, and the need to undergo surgery and/or hormonal treatment in order to make the body as close to the desired sex as possible. In 2013, the Ministry of Health expanded the Specialised Care of the Transsexual Process in Brazil. To demonstrate the initial experience of a sexual reassignment surgery service and the incidence of the primary complications. From April 2015 to March 2017, 17 patients diagnosed with male-to-female transsexuality underwent sexual reassignment surgery. They had a mean age of 30 years (21-42 years) and the mean follow-up time was 12 months. No post-operative complications were recorded in 11 patients (65%). Only one patient (5.8%) had an operative wound infection; another two (11.7%) developed urethral meatus stenosis and were treated with meatoplasty. In one case (5.8%), partial stenosis of the vaginal canal occurred, and this patient was followed-up with sessions of physical therapy and vaginal dilation exercises, and no further surgical intervention was necessary. There were no urinary or rectal fistulas. Two patients (11.7%) reported sporadic episodes of urinary loss on exertion, treated with pelvic floor physiotherapy. One patient required early re-operation due to bleeding from the urethral border, and another two patients underwent late procedures to improve vulvar aesthetics.