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On the Origin of Pedicled Skin Inversion Vaginoplasty: Life and Work of Dr Georges Burou of Casablanca.

Hage JJ, Karim RB, Laub DR

From the *Departments of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; †Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and the ‡Department of Surgery, Stanford Medical School, Palo Alto, CA.

The first reports on gender-confirming surgery had been published in Germany in the 1920s, but it took some 30 years before sex reassignment surgery for transsexuals became generally known. Initially, such surgery was performed mostly in Europe and Casablanca. In 1956, the gynecologist Dr Georges Burou (1910-1987) independently developed the anteriorly pedicled penile skin flap inversion vaginoplasty in his Clinique du Parc in Casablanca. This technique was to become the gold standard of skin-lined vaginoplasty in transsexuals. During his life, he was to perform well over 800 vaginoplasties for transsexual patients from all over the world, but Burou always kept a low profile to be able to continue this controversial part of his work in Morocco. Because his work was pioneering and innovative, Georges Burou and his vaginoplasty are given a place in the recorded history of plastic surgery.

Published 29 November 2007 in Ann Plast Surg, 59(6): 723-729.
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