Measurements of a 'normal vulva' in women aged 15-84: a cross-sectional prospective single-centre study

Abstract

Objective: Accurate and detailed description of a 'normal vulva' is rare, even though a few studies have dealt with the topic of normal measurements of parts of the external female genitalia. This leads to a situation with a wide range of existing diagnoses concerning 'normal' vulvar morphology.

Design: Cross-sectional prospective single-centre study.

Setting: From August 2015 to April 2017, we included 657 women in our gynaecological and uro-gynaecological outpatient clinic of the Cantonal Hospital Lucerne.

Population or sample: We recruited white women aged 15-84 years.

Methods: Standardised defined measurements were taken of the clitoral gland, distance from the base of the gland to the urethral orifice, length of introitus, length of perineum, length of labia majora, and length and width of labia minora. Furthermore, we recorded baseline characteristics.

Main outcome measures: The length of labia minora (r = -0.364, P < 0.001, n = 657) as well as the length of the perineum (r = -0.095, P = 0.014, n = 657) are inversely correlated with age. A positive correlation between body mass index and the length of the labia majora (r = 0.150, P < 0.001, n = 657) and the length of the introitus (r = 0.097, P = 0.014, n = 657) was found.

Results: We provide detailed data on age-related dimensions and description of the external female genitalia in a homogeneous group of white women.

Conclusion: With our data, we present a baseline for the appearance of a normal white vulva, which could be used to establish standards for indications for gynaecological cosmetic surgery.

Tweetable abstract: This study presents data on the standard dimensions of the external female genitalia and is, to our knowledge, the biggest cohort presented on this topic by now.

Keywords: Anatomy; external female genitalia; measurements; normal vulva; vulva.