Origami Model for Central Wedge Labiaplasty: A Simple Educational Model with Video Tutorial.

Requests for correction of labia minora hypertrophy are on the rise. More often, women present to report a dislike in the appearance of their external genitalia, as well as discomfort in clothing, discomfort with exercise, and painful intercourse from enlarged labia minora.1 According to the 2016 Cosmetic Surgery National Data Bank Statistics by The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, labiaplasty increased by 23.2% from 2015 to 2016.2 Placik and Arkins demonstrated that the increased demand for labiaplasty paralleled the increased prevalence of fully exposed, unobstructed centralized pubic area of Playboy magazine centerfolds from 1945 to 2013.3 Additionally, after 2010, the visibility of the labia majora increased 41.7% while the visibility of the labia minora decreased 48.5%. Many patients depend on electronic media prior to the initial surgical consultation and are often left with misleading or inaccurate information. According to the American Medical Association and National Institute of Health, medical information should be written at a sixth-grade level as only 12% of US adults have a proficient health literacy.4 Unfortunately, the majority of the information available for patients online may be written at too high of a health literacy level for the average patient or may contain erroneous information, resulting in prospective patients’ confusion. Our evolving experience with patient education for the central wedge labiaplasty transformed as we noticed that more patients did not prefer to look at live surgical videos or were uncomfortable looking at real patient’s before and after pictures. To overcome this barrier, we developed a simple and cost-effective origami model for patient education during the initial consultation for central wedge labiaplasty. Labiaplasty Origami Model Step-by-Step