Surgical management of ambiguous genitalia
- L Rangecroft,
- on behalf of the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons Working Party on the Surgical Management of Children Born With Ambiguous Genitalia
- Correspondence to:
Mr L Rangecroft, Consultant Paediatric Surgeon/Urologist, Department of Paediatric Surgery, The Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4LP, UK;
Laurence.rangecroft{at}nuth.northy.nhs.uk
- Accepted 21 November 2002
Abstract
The surgical management of children born with ambiguous genitalia has always been difficult, subject to evolving attitudes and techniques, and at times controversial. Standard protocols have stressed the need for early diagnosis, gender assignment, and appropriate surgery in infancy.1 In recent years some authors, backed by patient support groups, have claimed that such surgery is damaging or mutilating and, as it is essentially cosmetic, should not be performed until the fully informed consent of the patient could be obtained—that is, when the child becomes “Gillick competent”.2–4 There are, however, so many specific issues related to the different diagnostic groups that such a policy would seem to be too prescriptive.
Footnotes
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Members of Working Party: Dr C Brain, Consultant Paediatric Endocrinologist, Great Ormond Street Hospital, London; Miss S Creighton, Consultant Gynaecologist, University College London Hospitals, London; Dr D Di Ceglie, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, The Portman Clinic, London; Mr P Malone, Consultant Paediatric Urologist, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton; Dr A Ogilvy-Stuart, Consultant Neonatalologist, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge; Mr L Rangecroft (Chair), Consultant Paediatric Urologist, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne; Mr R Turnock, Consultant Paediatric Surgeon, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool
