The risk of medical complications after female circumcision.

The medical complications of the practice of circumcision were studied in 290 Somali women between ages of 18-54. Thirty-nine percent of the interviewed women had experienced significant complications after circumcision, most commonly haemorrhage, infection or urinary retention. Thirty-seven of the women reported a late complication of circumcision. Among these complications were dermoid cyst at the site of the amputated clitoris, urinary problems such as pain at micturition, dribbling urine incontinence and poor urinary flow. Forty of the women had experienced problems at the time of menarche and ten of them were operated because of haematocolpos. Most of the married women of the study sample were defibulated naturally by their husbands.