Genitourinary system trauma after 2003 Bam earthquake in Kerman, Iran

BACKGROUND: Natural disasters, especially earthquakes, result in many health problems all over the world, of which urological injuries should not be underestimated. Car accidents and falling from a height are the most common causes of genitourinary system injury. The lack of specific data in the literature regarding the outcome of earthquake-related genitourinary system trauma prompted us to undertake this study. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated the genitourinary system injury in patients who had survived the Bam earthquake. In this study, all patients admitted to two main back-up hospitals of Kerman were included. Of 256 patients who had been referred to Kerman hospitals, 28 cases were found to have urologic damage on physical examination, intravenous pyelography, abdominopelvic X-ray, and ultrasonography. RESULTS: Of 28 patients with urologic damage, 22 (78.5%) were male and six (21.5%) were female. Their age ranged from 18 to 65 years. The injures included urethral disruption in 21 cases (75.5%), vesicovaginal fistula in four cases (14%), kidney rupture in two cases (7%) and bladder neck disruption accompanied with total right ureteral disruption and vesicovaginal fistula in a female patient (3.5%). CONCLUSION: We have evaluated the incidence of genitourinary injuries after an earthquake disaster for the first time. The most and least common urologic injury in our patients was urethral disruption and ureteral injury, respectively.