BACKGROUND

Although female genital mutilation (FGM) does not feature in Judeo–Christian populations, it is estimated that, 100–140 million women in the world have undergone some form of FGM. Given the increasing diversity of the western populations, a review of specific complications of FGM is of paramount importance to practicing clinicians. The objective of this study is to report a case series of epidermal clitoral inclusion cysts after FGM in a Muslim population primarily from the Middle East.

METHODS

Between January 1998 and July 2009, 32 females underwent surgical removal of epidermal clitoral inclusion cysts in a tertiary referral university hospital. Data regarding age, clinical presentation, operation time, estimated blood loss, presence of intraoperative and post-operative complications, duration of admission to the hospital and long-term follow-up were extracted from the records.

RESULTS

There were 15 women (46.9%) with a definitive history of FGM, 14 (43.8%) did not know whether they had FGM or not and 3 (9.3%) had no history of FGM and were excluded from the analysis. The mean age of subjects was 28.1 years (range 5–91 years). All presented with increasing clitoral mass over a mean duration of 5.2 ± 4.1 years. The mean diameter of the cyst was 4.2 ± 2 cm. Regarding treatment, 28 subjects underwent surgical excision, and one underwent incision and drainage of a clitoral abscess. No short- or long-term complications occurred.

CONCLUSIONS

Clitoral cysts appear to be a more common complication of FGM than previously thought. Publication of studies that highlight the medical complications of FGM should be encouraged to advocate abandonment of the procedure.