The small study of 17 men and seven women found 64 percent of the men with the condition -- known as bladder exstrophy -- were moderately or very satisfied with their sexual lives. These scores were similar to those of healthy men.

However, study senior investigator, Dr. Yegappan Lakshmanan, of John Hopkins Children’s Center, in Baltimore, said two-thirds of the women with this condition reported moderate to severe dissatisfaction with their sexual lives.

"Even though we’ve managed to restore more or less normal anatomy and function in women, their anatomy has always been more challenging in this type of surgery," Lakshmanan said in a statement. "Armed with this new knowledge from the study, we will now go back and tweak the techniques we use in women to make sure we prevent at least some of the complications that cause sexual dysfunction later in life."

The findings were presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics Conference in San Francisco.