Ambiguous genitalia.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

To review the relevant publications since 2004 on surgery for female pseudohermaphroditism. Current controversies exist regarding the timing and technical aspects of female genital reconstruction and indeed the wisdom of performing these procedures in childhood.

RECENT FINDINGS

Nine articles, published between 2004 and the present time, were found worthy of being included in this review. The topics include surgical technique, short-term and long-term results, voiding function after feminizing genitoplasty, and the timing of surgery.

SUMMARY

Although results for surgery for congenital adrenal hyperplasia have been less than satisfactory when adults who had surgery in childhood are evaluated, all present reports include patients operated on using a variety of techniques many years ago. Rather than abandoning the efforts to repair this malformation early, we favor the continued development of more refined surgical techniques that may yield better results in the future.