Deaths from urologic injury due to external trauma

The priority for treatment of a urologic injury in multiple injured patients from external trauma should be determined by the frequency of death from the urologic injury. The medical records of 2,058 patients with urologic injury from external trauma including 214 deaths were reviewed. Four deaths were attributed mainly to the urologic injury; one early in the postinjury period from continued severe hemorrhage from a ruptured kidney managed conservatively and three 6 to 8 weeks after injury from sepsis with a pelvic abscess from a ruptured urethra or bladder. The remaining 210 deaths were attributed to the associated injuries and occurred in the more severely injured older patients compared to the survivors. Death in multiple injured patients was rarely due to the urologic injury.