Men born with a rare defect resulting in their bladder forming outside the body reported more robust sex lives than women born with the same condition, according to a small study conducted by Johns Hopkins Children Center urologists.

The condition, known as bladder exstrophy, requires a series of reconstructive surgeries throughout infancy and childhood and into early adolescence. Female patients run the risk of future complications that can impede their sex lives, senior investigator Dr. Yegappan Lakshmanan said in a statement. “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. 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.”