PROBLEMS OF DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF PATIENTS WITH BACKGROUND PROCESSES AND TUMOR PATHOLOGY OF THE VULVA

Aim. The study was designed for the optimization of the approaches to the diagnosis and management of women with background diseases and tumor pathology of the vulva.Materials and methods. The study involved more than a thousand and a half patients from different regions of Russia and CIS countries with precancerous and tumor pathology of the external genitals. A variety of methods were used in the primary diagnosis and monitoring in the treatment and observation, ranging from the banal examination, palpation, laboratory studies and ending with modern morphological studies, CT, MRI and PET diagnostics.Results. The characteristic differences in the background processes of the vulva were revealed, which allowed us to divide them into two groups: the first group – the pathological process occurs against the background of dystrophic changes in the tissues of the external genitals; the second group – the dermis and subcutaneous fat are not changed. Clear morphological criteria of two variants of changes are accompanied by a significantly different clinical picture. Conservative measures had low efficiency in the pathology of the vulva with a neurodystrophic process. Carrying out a photodynamic therapy and laser vaporization is justified only in young and middle-aged women with precancer. It was found that the high efficiency of surgical treatment is combined with a large number of early and late postoperative complications, which in itself causes discomfort, pain, dysuric phenomena, and dyspareunia. It is possible to reduce the frequency of postoperative complications and improve the functional and cosmetic results of the treatment only with the use of reconstructive plastic surgery. We have developed and widely implemented the methods of closing wound defects in everyday practice and evaluated their effectiveness. Conclusion. Over the past 20 years, a lot of work has been done to address the topical issues related to the diagnosis and treatment of background processes, precancer and vulva cancer. However, at present, there is no center where theoretical issues are studied at a serious level, conservative and invasive methods of treatment are developed, and educational and methodical work with doctors is carried out. Without proper attention to these issues, this problem is unlikely to be solved in the near future, both from theoretical and practical points of view.