The “designer vagina” sounds like the name of a “Sex in the City” episode, and may
evoke a variety of responses, from enthusiasm for anything that can make the vagina
more modern and user-friendly, to mistrust for unproven treatments for conditions
that have not been clearly defined. Regardless of one's response, the definition of
the “designer vagina” is elusive and must be comprehensible before any discussion
can ensue. In a committee opinion in 2007, the American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists [
[1]
], stated that terms such as “designer vaginoplasty” or “vaginal rejuvenation” are
not standard medical nomenclature. As such, procedures using these non-specific definitions
cannot be appropriately studied for safety and efficacy. Four years later, Mirzabeigi
et al., proposed, in a letter to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery
in 2011[
[2]
], that terminology be standardized in an effort to avoid ambiguity and inconsistency.
In this editorial, we refer to techniques employed to modify the physical appearance
(shape, caliber or length) of the vagina and external genitalia for aesthetic purposes
as “female genital cosmetic surgery” (FGCS) [
[3]
].Keywords
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References
- ACOG committee opinion No. 378: vaginal “rejuvenation” and cosmetic vaginal procedures.Obset Gynecol. 2007; 110: 737-738
- The nomenclature of “vaginal rejuvenation” and elective vulvovaginal plastic surgery.Aesthetic Surg J. 2011; 31: 723-724
- Female cosmetic genital surgery.Obstet Gynecol. 2009; 113: 154-159
- Female genital cosmetic and plastic surgery: a review.J Sex Med. 2011; 8: 1813-1825
- Female genital cosmetic surgery: a critical review of current knowledge and contemporary debates.J Womens Health. 2010; 19: 1393-1407
Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 03, 2012
Received:
January 17,
2012
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
