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1: East Afr Med J. 1992 Sep;69(9):479-82.Links
Comment in:
East Afr Med J. 1992 Sep;69(9):477-8.

The risk of medical complications after female circumcision.

Dirie MA, Lindmark G.

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden.

The medical complications of the practice of circumcision were studied in 290 Somali women between ages of 18-54. Thirty-nine percent of the interviewed women had experienced significant complications after circumcision, most commonly haemorrhage, infection or urinary retention. Thirty-seven of the women reported a late complication of circumcision. Among these complications were dermoid cyst at the site of the amputated clitoris, urinary problems such as pain at micturition, dribbling urine incontinence and poor urinary flow. Forty of the women had experienced problems at the time of menarche and ten of them were operated because of haematocolpos. Most of the married women of the study sample were defibulated naturally by their husbands.

PIP: Medical complications of female circumcision/genital mutilation were studied among 290 Somali women from Mogadishu aged 18-54 years. They were of mean age 22 years. 88% underwent excision and infibulation, 6.5% clitoridectomy, and 5.5% a Sunna procedure involving excision of the prepuce of the clitoris. 69% of the respondents were circumcised at home and 52% of them by an untrained person such as a traditional birth attendant. 39% of the interviewed women had experienced significant complications after the operation, most commonly hemorrhage, infection, or urinary retention. 37 women reported a late complication of circumcision including dermoid cyst at the site of the amputated clitoris, urinary problems such as pain at micturition, dribbling urine incontinence, and poor urinary flow. 40 women had experienced problems at the time of menarche and 10 were operated because of haematocolpos. There were 119 married and defibulated women among the study sample. 87% of these women had been defibulated by their husbands without the need of instruments. The remaining 27 were defibulated with the use of various instruments such as knives, razor blades, and scissors.

PMID: 1286628 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]