The patient with the team of doctors who treated her at SRM Prime Hospital in Chennai.
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement
SRM Prime Hospital has successfully treated a neovaginal fistula in a 22-year-old who had recently undergone male-to-female gender-affirming surgery elsewhere. The condition involved an abnormal connection between the rectum and the neovagina, leading to the passage of flatus and faecal matter. Doctors closed the fistula using a bovine pericardial patch. The minimally invasive, endoscopic day-care procedure helped the patient avoid major open-abdominal surgery.
The procedure was done by Arulprakash S., clinical lead and senior consultant, and Tarun J. George, senior consultant in medical gastroenterology and hepatology. They worked under the guidance of C. Paul Dilip Kumar, director of Medical Services at SRM Prime Hospital.
The patient had a rare recto-neovaginal fistula, an unusual opening between the rectum and a surgically created neovagina, which can happen after gender-affirming surgery. A previous endoscopic clip treatment helped only for a short time. Usually, open abdominal surgery would be the only solution, but the doctors chose a less invasive method using an endoscope to close the opening with a special bovine pericardial patch. And the patient was able to go home the same day, needing only a week of rest, five days of antibiotics, and stool softeners for around three months.
Published – November 25, 2025 08:14 pm IST
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