A hymenotomy is a
medical procedure
A medical procedure is a course of action intended to achieve a result in the delivery of healthcare.
A medical procedure with the intention of determining, measuring, or diagnosis, diagnosing a patient condition or parameter is also called a medi ...
involving the
surgical
Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery ...
removal or opening of the
hymen
The hymen is a thin piece of mucosal tissue that surrounds or partially covers the vaginal opening. A small percentage of females are born with hymens that are imperforate and completely obstruct the vaginal canal. It forms part of the vulva ...
. It is often performed on patients with an
imperforate
For postage stamps, separation is the means by which individual stamps are made easily detachable from each other.
Methods of separation include:
# perforation: cutting rows and columns of small holes
# rouletting: small horizontal and vert ...
or
septate
In biology, a septum (Latin for ''something that encloses''; septa) is a wall, dividing a cavity or structure into smaller ones. A cavity or structure divided in this way may be referred to as septate.
Examples
Human anatomy
* Interatrial se ...
hymen, or other situations where the hymen is unusually thick or rigid such as microperforate hymen. In the case of a female with a hymen without any opening, an opening may be created to facilitate
menstruation
Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and Mucous membrane, mucosal tissue from the endometrium, inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized ...
. In situations where the opening is extremely small or the band(s) of a septate hymen limit access to the vaginal opening, the woman may elect for hymenotomy to allow for comfortable
sexual penetration
Sexual penetration is the insertion of a body part or other object into a body orifice, such as the mouth, vagina or anus, as part of human sexual activity or sexual behavior in non-human animals.
The term is most commonly used in statute la ...
of her vagina, or to relieve pain or discomfort that occurs when inserting/removing tampons. Sexual intercourse would not normally be adversely affected by a hymenotomy.
See also
*
Hymenorrhaphy
Hymenorrhaphy or "hymen reconstruction surgery" is the surgical alteration of the hymen, with the goal of producing bleeding on intercourse and a tight vaginal introitus, falsely believed to indicate virginity. The term comes from the Greek words ...
*
List of surgeries by type
Many Surgery, surgical procedure names can be broken into parts to indicate the meaning. For example, in gastrectomy, "ectomy" is a suffix (linguistics), suffix meaning the removal of a part of the body. "Gastro-" means stomach. Thus, ''gastrectom ...
References
External links
Imperforate hymen - eMedicine article
Gynecological surgery
Surgical removal procedures
Vagina
Hymen
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