A hospital study of the complications of female circumcision.

During one year 118 patients were admitted to the operative gynecological ward of Banadir Maternity Hospital, Mogadishu, Somalia, with diseases related to the practice of female circumcision. Fifty-five per cent of the patients were suffering from a dermoid cyst at the site of the excised clitoris. Thirty-six per cent had a vaginal stenosis and 9% an abscess at the site of the excised clitoris. These patients occupied the beds of the hospital for a total period of 1967 days which posed a significant constraint to the health services of the hospital.