Research needed for veterans with genital and reproductive wounds

FINAL-FOR THE VETERAN OF THE VETERAN SHARE OF THE DAY

Research needed for veterans with genital and reproductive wounds
By Roxana Delgado
 Dec 3, 08:34 AM
Soldiers from B Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, await orders to move out on a nighttime patrol designed to interrupt movement of enemy fighters in the Nuristan province of Afghanistan, Sept. 1, 2006.
Soldiers from the 32nd Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, await orders to move out on a nighttime patrol designed to interrupt movement of enemy fighters in the Nuristan province of Afghanistan, in September 2006. (Spc. Eric Jungels/Army)

An estimated 1,500 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are living with an often devastating type of combat wound that is severely understudied. Genitourinary, or GU, injuries, which include wounds to urinary, genital and reproductive areas, are increasingly survivable because of advancements in battlefield medicine. However, little research has been completed on the long-term health of the men and women who survive such wounds, which means we may not be providing these veterans with the best possible care.