Woman who couldn’t have sex gets artificial vagina made from pig intestine

A WOMAN whose vagina was so narrow she could no longer have sex has undergone successful surgery to have it reconstructed – using a pig’s intestine. The woman had been sent for treatment after her gynaecologist found she was so narrow it was not even possible to carry out an examination.

     Doctors there decided to try out the operation after learning that a similar procedure involving pigs intestine could be used on people who had a narrow bladder.

       But they could find no literature or evidence that it had ever been used to help somebody like the young woman, the news agency CEN reports.

     She had reported the problem after suffering from scleroderma – a condition that results in hard, thickened areas of skin and sometimes problems with internal organs and blood vessels.

     The condition can cause a woman’s vaginal opening to constrict – making sexual function harder – and can also cause decreased sexual lubrication. 

     To try and help the woman, surgeons decided to carry out surgery using a technique called a Mesh Augmented Vaginal Reconstruction.

      This is usually performed on women who have suffered a pelvic organ prolapse and who are experiencing symptoms such as urinary incontinence. 

      Because prolapse is associated with weakened internal supportive structures, a graft may be placed to strengthen the repair.

HOW SURGERY WAS PERFORMED

    The patient suffered from scleroderma – a condition that results in hard, thickened areas of skin and sometimes problems with internal organs and blood vessels.

    The condition can cause a woman’s vaginal opening to constrict – making sexual function harder – and can also cause decreased sexual lubrication.

    To try and help the woman, surgeons decided to carry out surgery using a technique called a Mesh Augmented Vaginal Reconstruction.

   This is usually performed for women who have suffered a pelvic organ prolapse and who are experiencing symptoms such as urinary incontinence.

    The graft may be made of natural tissue; such as human donor skin or fascia; or porcine (pig) intestine.

     Pig tissue is often used because its genetic make up is similar to that of humans. For over 30 years, scientists have been using pigs in a number of medical fields, including dermatology, cardiology and more.