A survey of emergency blunt urethral injury management in China: Reality versus guidelines

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough urethral trauma may lead to serious consequences if mismanaged, treatment concepts are inconsistent. We designed a survey to investigate the current diagnosis and management of emergency blunt urethral trauma to aid future dissemination of relevant concepts.MethodsA 15‐item anonymous questionnaire was distributed via an online platform. It addressed items such as the cognition of how to diagnose of urethral trauma, optimal emergency management of a urethral trauma patient, and attitude towards early realignment for pelvic fracture urethral injuries.ResultsOf 538 respondents, 94.2% and 84.9% had received patients with straddle trauma urethral injuries or pelvic fracture urethral injuries, respectively, within the past year. In the emergency room, attempted urethral catheterization was the most selected examination method by respondents for diagnosis of both straddle injury (500/538) and pelvic fracture urethral injury (469/538). For patients with straddle injury, 41.3% of respondents performed endoscopic realignment and 31.6% preferred suprapubic cystostomy. For hemodynamically stable patients with PFUI, 42.2% of respondents preferred suprapubic cystostomy and 34.9% preferred endoscopic realignment. Most respondents felt favorably toward early realignment for pelvic fracture urethral injuries. After realignment, 61.3%, 24.5%, and 13.8% of respondents performed catheterization for 4, 8, and 12 weeks, respectively. Further, 54.6% of respondents believed catheter traction should be applied after realignment.ConclusionAlthough the number of yearly emergency urethral trauma cases was small, the opinions and practices of most urologists were consistent with guidelines. However, the significance of retrograde urethrography was not fully understood, and some respondents had incorrect views on catheter traction after realignment.