Robot-assisted surgery builds artificial vagina for woman

Ti Gong

Local doctors have conducted a minimally-invasive robot-assisted surgery to build an artificial vagina for a woman with a deformed uterus and no vagina due to a congenital disease.

The 30-year-old woman was diagnosed with a congenitally deformed uterus at the age of 13, when she didn't experience menstruation like other girls. She was confirmed at age 20 as having an underdeveloped reproductive system, resulting in a very small uterus without a vagina.

She said the underlying condition caused her to have strong mental anxiety and seriously affected her life.

The woman visited Dr Wan Xiaoping from Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital this month, where doctors confirmed she suffered from Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome, a disorder that mainly affects the female reproductive system.

Patients suffering from the condition usually have an undeveloped or absent vagina and uterus, although the external genitalia are normal.

In a delicate operation, doctors decided on the robot-assisted procedure to "construct" a vagina by using the patient's sigmoid colon.

MRKH syndrome affects one in every 4,000 to 5,000 people. Victims can suffer both physical and psychological pressure due to a lack of certain organs inside the body.

"People with the syndrome suffer anxiety, depression and inferiority, and almost always question their identity as a female," Wan said.

"Surgery to treat their physical and mental trauma can help such patients enjoy a normal sexual life and improve their life quality," Wan added.

"The robot-assisted procedure helps the complicated surgery to be more accurate and safer."