Posttraumatic Urological System Injuries at UNTH, Enugu.

Abstract

Objective: To describe our experience in the management of and the results of treatment of traumatic injuries to the urogenital system/organs.
Methods: This is a retrospective patient record review of the records of 225 patients treated of posttraumatic injuries to the urogenital system in our unit over a period of ten years, i.e. between January 1995 and December 31 2004. Results: The total number of patients treated within 10 years was 225. Only 65 of these patients were women; the remaining were men, majority of them were aged between 30 and 50 years. The male female ratio was 2.5:1 made up as follows, 160 (71.1%) males, and 65 females, (28.9%). A total of 73 patients (32.4%) had definitive treatment as emergency, while 152 patients (67.1%) were operated on as elective cases. Road Traffic Accidents (RTA) accounted for 119 (52.9%), of the cases. One hundred and thirty nine (139) of the patients recovered fully and were discharged. There was improvement with treatment or rehabilitation
continued on outpatient basis in 63 (28%) cases. Seven of the patients were lost to follow up and so no definite opinion could be given. There was a mortality of 7.1 %. Only 27 of the patients reported to UNTH as their first port of call after their injury; And all the 27 cases survived. The rest of them came as referrals from various hospitals where they had received some forms of treatment after their injuries before being referred for further
management. The commonest cause of trauma was Road Traffic Accident and the kidneys were the organ most frequently injured. Conclusions: Our experience compares favorably with other reports world-wide. However there was a high incidence of nephrectomy in the series. A mortality of 7.1 % for posttraumatic injuries to the urogenital system was quite unacceptably higher than most reports reviewed. To reduce the magnitude of mortality
in posttraumatic uro-genital system injuries peripheral hospitals should be encouraged to refer cases early enough rather than delay these patients to the point of death before referring them for “expert management.”

Keywords: Urogenital injuries, treatment, outcome.

Nigerian Medical Journal Vol. 48 (3) 2007: pp. 62-64