The urologic status of the Vietnam war paraplegic: a 15-year prospective followup.

In a 15-year prospective followup of the Vietnam War spinal cord injury patient the corrected death rate was 20 per cent. This rate is not significantly better than the World War II and Korean War veterans 15 years after injury. However, the percentage of renal deaths 15 years after injury in the Vietnam War group is approximately half that of the other 2 groups, which possibly could be owing to better and more successful efforts to maintain a status free of a catheter. These patients were managed during the era of external sphincterotomy, an important therapeutic advancement in the treatment of detrusor-sphincter dyssynergia.