CARE OF TRAUMATIC INJURIES OF THE MALE URETHRA

When all etiologic factors are considered, urethral injuries in the male occur not infrequently. In the evolution of man to the two-footed and upright position, he has acquired an increased hazard to certain accidental injuries. Among these are injuries to the lower part of the abdomen, the pelvis and the lower extremities. Experiences recorded by observers in all parts of the world reveal a wide diversity of means by which accidental injuries to the urethra may be acquired. By far the most frequent cause is a fall from an elevated position in which the entire body weight is transmitted with a sudden impact to a localized point of the perineum. Perhaps the second most common cause involves crushing injuries in which the body is caught or impinged beneath a falling object. Injuries incurred in the latter type of accident are invariably complicated by fractures of the pelvic girdle. In my