[Prolapse of the urethral mucosa in young girls from the Ivory Coast].

In this retrospective study covering a nine-year period, 65 cases have been analyzed of prolapse of the urethral mucosa in young girls (aged between six weeks and 14 years) from the Ivory Coast. The aim of this study was to describe the etiology of this disorder, and to demonstrate the utility of ambulatory surgery. The main reason for the detection of this disorder was mild genital hemorrhage in 37 cases, which was related to rape in eight instances and to other types of trauma in nine cases, thereby raising serious medico-legal problems. Various forms of treatment were used (medical and/or surgical). The medical approach consisted of antibiotic and antiinflammatory treatment, combined with a local antiseptic. Two surgical approaches were adopted, either the Doria method in which the necrosed tissue is spontaneously eliminated after three to five days, or surgical excision under general anesthesia of the prolapsed mucosa followed by seromucosal stitching. The results were satisfactory in all cases, and in the surgically operated cases no complications or recurrence were noted at one-year follow-up.