title: Pubic hair grooming injuries presenting to U.S. emergency departments.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the demographics and mechanism of genitourinary (GU) injuries related to pubic hair grooming in patients who present to U.S. emergency departments (EDs).
  
  
  METHODS
  The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System contains prospectively collected data from patients who present to EDs with consumer product-related injuries. The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System is a stratified probability sample, validated to provide national estimates of all patients who present to U.S. EDs with an injury. We reviewed the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System to identify incidents of GU injury related to pubic hair grooming for 2002-2010. The variables reviewed included age, race, gender, injury type, location (organ) of injury, hospital disposition, and grooming product.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From 2002 to 2010, an observed 335 actual ED visits for GU injury related to grooming products provided an estimated 11,704 incidents (95% confidence interval 8430-15,004). The number of incidents increased fivefold during that period, amounting to an estimated increase of 247 incidents annually (95% confidence interval 110-384, P = .001). Of the cohort, 56.7% were women. The mean age was 30.8 years (95% confidence interval 28.8-32.9). Shaving razors were implicated in 83% of the injuries. Laceration was the most common type of injury (36.6%). The most common site of injury was the external female genitalia (36.0%). Most injuries (97.3%) were treated within the ED, with subsequent patient discharge.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most GU injuries that result from the use of grooming products are minor and involve the use of razors. The demographics of patients with GU injuries from grooming products largely paralleled observations about cultural grooming trends in the United States.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University of California San Francisco, School of Medicine, San Francisco, California 94143-0738, USA.
authors.forename: Allison S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Glass
authors.forename: Herman S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Bagga
authors.forename: Gregory E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Tasian
authors.forename: Patrick B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: Charles E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: McCulloch
authors.forename: Sarah D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Blaschko
authors.forename: Jack W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: McAninch
authors.forename: Benjamin N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Breyer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D005836:Genitalia, Female / Q000293:injuries; D005837:Genitalia, Male / Q000293:injuries; D006204:Hair Removal / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D022125:Lacerations / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D011159:Population Surveillance; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult