Consensual Coital Lacerations: A Case Series

Consensual coital lacerations are commonly encountered in clinical practice. Though not as common as lacerations sustained during childbirth, they account for significant morbidity among sexually active women. Consensual sexual intercourse should ordinarily not cause pain as opposed to rape. It commonly results from inadequate foreplay prior to penetration leading to non-lubrication of the vagina. Severe coital laceration may lead to life threatening blood loss. The authors report their experience with treating patients with coital laceration. The mechanism of injury and treatment modality were also highlighted. Three cases are presented. The first patient bled profusely from the laceration and went into shock due to severity of bleeding. The second case presentation was similar to the first only that she was haemodynamically stable at presentation without any sign of shock. The last case was a newlywed who was having sexual intercourse for the very first time. All three patients were not adequately lubricated prior to penetration due to inadequate foreplay. All three cases were consensual and were either with the lover as in the first two cases or the spouse as in the third case. None of them was circumcised or had had any form of genital mutilation. The case series bring to fore the common mechanism of consensual coital laceration, the need for clinicians to have high index of suspicion when reviewing susceptible patients as well as proper and prompt management of the condition which may require surgical repair as was in all the cases highlighted.

Author(s):

Oseni TIA, Fuh NF and Eromon PE

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