Urethral Injury and Fractured Pelvis

Summary— In 333 consecutive cases of fractures of th pelvis admitted as emergencies to one hospital 53% were in males, of whom 34 had suspicious clinical signs of urethral or vesical injury. In 15 patients catheterisation was performed uneventfully and in no case did this make the injury worse; in 8 an attempt at primary realignment was performed, resulting in 4 cases without any stricture, and 2 who needed annual dilatation only. In 4 additional cases associated laceration of teh bladder was repaired which one had no stricture and 2 needed infrequent dilatations. In a further 41 cases a catherter was used and led to no strictures. Among 67 males with post‐tramatic urethral injures caused by pelvic fracture the best results were seen when the 2 ends were urethral injuries caused by pelvic fracture the best entirely, and in 17 others it led to an easy urethroplasty. Difficult strictures occurred in servere injuries with uncorrected displacement of the soft parts. Where feasible, early surgical repair appears to give the best chance of minimislng the severity of subsequent urethral stricture.