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Diagnosis | Imperforate vagina with secondary mucometra

Lab Animal volume 37, pages 198–199 (2008)Cite this article

Although there is some disagreement regarding the role of the Müllerian duct and urogenital sinus in the development of the vagina, there is universal agreement on the development of an endodermal membrane (or hymen) that occludes the vaginal opening until puberty1,2,3. At puberty, this barrier degenerates and the vaginal opening becomes patent. In normal weaning-age mice, the vaginal orifice can be gently teased open with a cotton-tipped applicator. This is not the case in mice with an imperforate vagina, where opening the vaginal vault requires sharp surgical dissection.

Postoperatively, we instilled a triple antibiotic ophthalmic ointment with hydrocortisone (Foguera, Melville, NY) into the vaginal orifice followed by one or two drops of the local anesthetic agent bupivacaine (Marcaine 0.5%, Hospira, Lake Forest, IL) along the incision site. The antibiotic trimethoprim-sulfa (30 mg per kg body weight, Medical Arts Pharmacy, Baltimore, MD) was administered subcutaneously twice daily in 1 ml 0.9% saline. This treatment was continued for 5–7 days with the exception of the bupivacaine, which we discontinued after 3 days. The tip of the tube of ophthalmic ointment helps to maintain the dilation of the vagina when the ointment is instilled intravaginally. The hydrocortisone is used to minimize contracture and closure of the newly formed vaginal os.

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Figure 2
Figure 3: Surgical repair of an imperforate vagina.
Figure 4

References

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported [in part] by the Intramural Research Program of the National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health.

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Diagnosis | Imperforate vagina with secondary mucometra. Lab Anim 37, 198–199 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban0508-198

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