[Winter sports injuries of the urogenital tract (author's transl)].

During 1964-1974 112 injuries of the urogenital tract caused by winter sports were treated at the University Hospital Innsbruck, Department of Urology. Eighty-eight patients suffered skiing injuries, 20 tobogganing injuries, and one injury each was caused by ski jumping and bobsleighing accidents, two traumas resulted from a fall from a chair lift. On the basis of typical case reports the most common types of trauma of the urogenital tract are demonstrated and the basic mechanisms of the accidents are discussed. Particular attention is paid to the obvious increase of lesions of the external genitalia and the urethra in the last few years caused by the so-called spinning ski, as well as the frequency of kidney traumas, especially in winters with little snow. Tobogganing accidents caused injuries to the kidneys as well as to bladder and urethra. In contrast to traumas caused by skiing, tobogganing injuries were mostly multiple. Analysis of patients records shows an increase of these injuries, which were really not typical for winter sports. The possible reasons as well as their prevention are discussed.