It is usually performed as an elective cosmetic surgery meant to improve sexual satisfaction and to change the aesthetic appearance of the vulva.

Though patient surveys have indicated satisfaction with the outcome of such procedures, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists cautioned in 2007 that for this type of vaginal surgeries, which are not medically indicated, women should be informed about the lack of data on their efficacy and potential complications.

[6] Another technique cuts away (excises) the redundant folds of clitoral prepuce tissue, with incisions parallel to the long axis of the clitoris.

[10][11] Partial or total hoodectomy is classified by the World Health Organization as female genital mutilation (FGM) Type 1A.

The ACOG doubts the medical safety and the therapeutic efficacy of the surgical techniques and procedures for performing vaginoplastic operations such as labiaplasty, vaginal rejuvenation, the designer vagina, revirgination, and G-spot amplification, and recommends that women seeking such genitoplastic surgeries must be fully informed, with the available surgical-safety statistics, of the potential health risks of surgical-wound infection, of pudendal nerve damage (resulting in either an insensitive or an over-sensitive vulva), of dyspareunia (painful coitus), of tissue adhesions (epidermoid cysts), and of painful scars.