Introduction

The past decade of War that America has been involved in has conveyed many medical challenges that doctors have never been faced with before. The advancement of life-saving techniques that are being used in the combat field now allow veterans to survive what previously would have been life-ending wounds. While life is a welcome alternative to death, the consequences of living are presenting a new challenge to health care providers. The overwhelming theme of the present war includes the use of Improvised Explosive Devices or IEDs, and these weapons have left men and women without limbs, organs, eyesight and even genitals. The most common way the enemy uses an IED is by placing the device under a pressure plate detonator, which is then triggered by a footstep or Humvee tire. The resulting explosion occurs in an upward force powerful enough to tear a human body apart. Death is still the common outcome for the unlucky veteran who triggered the IED, but for those close behind, loss of legs, arms and genitals is becoming a growing problem. Current body armor these individuals wear, shields the abdomen and chest from harm, but does not provide protection to the genitals or legs and the resulting injuries are devastating for both sexual function and reproductive capabilities. This wiki will discuss the physiology of genital trauma to the penis, testicles and scrotum, the most common surgical procedures used in penile reconstruction, treatment options available in terms of hormone replacement resulting from the loss of the testes and anatomical differences between genital injuries to men and women based on the physical differences of anatomy.

*** BE ADVISED: THIS WIKI CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES OF GENITAL WOUNDS***