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Overview of Urinary Tract and Genital Injury

By

Noel A. Armenakas

, MD, Weill Cornell Medical School

Reviewed/Revised Feb 2023
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Organs of the Urinary Tract

The urinary tract consists of the kidneys, ureters (tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder), bladder, and urethra (the tube through which urine flows out of the body). These organs may be injured by blunt force (as occurs in a motor vehicle crash or a fall) or by penetrating force (as results from a gunshot or stabbing). Injuries may also occur unintentionally during surgery.

Organs of the Urinary Tract

Because the function of the kidneys is to continuously filter out metabolic wastes from the blood and remove them from the body through the urinary tract, injuries to the kidneys Kidney Injuries Kidneys are injured more often than any of the organs along the urinary tract from external trauma. Blunt force due to motor vehicle crashes, falls, or sports injuries is the usual cause of... read more or urinary tract can lead to the inability to perform these functions (kidney failure Overview of Kidney Failure Kidney failure is the inability of the kidneys to adequately filter metabolic waste products from the blood. Kidney failure has many possible causes. Some lead to a rapid decline in kidney function... read more ). Other complications of injury include bleeding, leakage of urine from the urinary tract into surrounding tissues, and infection. Preventing permanent damage to the urinary tract and even death may depend on prompt diagnosis and treatment.

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