Urethral Injury and Symptoms
The urethra is a tube-like structure that connects the urinary bladder to the excretion end of our body. Basically, it helps in passing urine. It also helps in the ejaculation of sperm in males. An injury or rupture in the urethra is an uncommon result of incorrect catheter insertion, pelvic girdle fracture, or straddle injury. In case of urethral injury, urine may escape in other tissues because of damage in the muscular tube that helps in urination. Urethral injury can have short or long-term consequences like incontinence, impotence, and stricture. This is more common in males than in females. Please visit a urology hospital in Bangalore if you have any symptoms of urethral injury.
Symptoms of Urethral Injury:
- Blood in the urine.
- Unable to pass urine.
- Pain during urination. Presence of blood on the tips of the penis in males.
- Presence of blood on the edge of the urethral opening or vagina in females.
- Visible bruises between legs and genitals.
- Pain in the belly
The complication can lead to other symptoms like infection due to the spreading of urine in the tissues. Men may experience erectile dysfunction caused by injury in the nerves of the penis. Swelling, bruising of genital parts like scrotum, penis, perineum.
Causes of Urethral Injury:
Pelvis bones protect the bladder when it’s empty from blows to the lower abdomen. s it fills, though, the top of the bladder rises into the abdomen where it’s less protected If the pelvis is hit with a force great enough to break the pelvic bones, the bladder may be injured even if it’s empty. The pelvis bones aren’t fully developed in kids, so there is a greater chance of injury than in adults.
The most common situation for Urethral injuries are:
- Car crash
- Crush injuries
- Falling from a great height Hitting lower abdomen by a heavy object.
- Hitting something hard between your legs.
- The injury can happen from anything being pierced from outside called penetrating trauma like:
- Knife
- Bullet
- Explosive devices.
- Sharpnel
- Urethral injury in females can be caused by sexual assault.
Make sure you are wearing a seat belt properly to prevent urethral injury in a car crash. The seat belt should be worn as a lap belt, and not across the belly. During a car crash, passengers with a full bladder wearing a seat belt around the belly may have the force of the crash focus on the full bladder.
Diagnosis of Urethral Injury:
If you have any symptoms of urethral injury or if you have experienced any accidents, please visit a urology hospital in Bangalore and get yourself diagnosed.
Your urologist may try to pass a tube (“catheter”) through your urethra. If the tube is unable to pass, it’s one of the first signs of injury in the urethra. The next step is an X-ray. A special dye is squirted into the urethra. The dye is supposed to be visible on the X-ray if it leaks out of the urethra. Urethral injury is common after pelvic fracture and an X-ray is usually done in such cases
Treatment of Urethral Injury:
Depending on where and how bad the injury is, treatment is to be started. Cases of anterior urethral injury which include crashing or crushing of pelvis bone need surgery right away. If injuries are minor, they can be treated with a catheter through the urethra into the bladder. It prevents urine from touching the urethra so that it can repair itself. The catheter is placed in for 2 to 3 weeks. After a period of time, an x-ray is taken if the injury is fixed. The catheter is removed if the injury is healed or left for few more days if not healed depending on the situation.
Posterior urethral injury is very complicated to treat as it comes with other severe injuries. Most urologists first place a catheter in the bladder at the time of injury and wait for 3 to 6 months. This gives the body the time to heal.
The catheter left in the bladder can be uncomfortable and sometimes hurtful. Another problem after the urethral repair is scars in the urethra. This can sometimes block the urine flow. Urologists of urology hospital Bangalore can fix this by a small surgery. And also they make sure you do not develop further complications
