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Citation
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Kronstedt S, Boyle J, Fisher AD, Patel HV, Grabo D, April MD, Peterson AC, Schauer SG. J. Urol. 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub. |
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Abstract
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PURPOSE: There has been little to no literature published on combat-related genitourinary (GU) injuries beyond 2013. With the goal of enhancing medical readiness prior to deployment and making recommendations to improve the long-term rehabilitation of service members as they become civilians, we sought to describe the incidence of combat-related GU injuries and interventions from January 01, 2007 to March 17, 2020.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of the Department of Defense Trauma Registry, which is a prospectively maintained database, for the time between 2007 to 2020. We used predefined search criteria to primarily identify any casualties that arrived at a military treatment facility with urological-based injuries.
RESULTS: The registry contained 25,897 adult casualties, of which 7.2% sustained urological injuries. The median age was 25. Explosive injuries (64%) and firearms (27%) predominated. The median injury severity score was 18 (interquartile range [IQR] 10-29). Most patients survived until hospital discharge (94%). The most frequently injured organ was the scrotum (60%), testes (53%), penis (30%), and kidneys (30%). Massive transfusion protocols were activated in 35% of all patients who sustained a urological injury and accounted for 28% of all protocols between 2007 to 2020.
CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of GU trauma persistently increased for both military and civilian personnel as the US remained actively engaged in major military conflicts during this period. Patients with GU trauma in this dataset were often associated with high injury severity scores and required an increased number of immediate and long-term resources for survival and rehabilitation.
Language: en |