Africa in the news – Somalia: A 24-year-old woman was hit in the clitoris by a stray bullet while she was in her living room. Doctors report the extremely rare, if not unique, clinical case of a Somali woman injured in the clitoris by a stray bullet.

A woman hit in the clitoris by a stray bullet in her living room in Somalia

In countries in the throes of armed conflict, stray bullet wounds are not uncommon. What is much rarer, however, is when one of these stray bullets reaches the clitoris.

In the International Journal of Surgery Case Reports, doctors report the clinical case of a 24-year-old young woman, living in Somalia, who was injured by a stray bullet in the clitoris.

The Somali woman had been rushed to hospital after a bullet, 2cm long and 0.8cm in diameter, went through her ceiling while she was sitting in her living room. The bullet hit her vulva, damaging her clitoris.

No complications to report

Once taken care of at the hospital, the young woman underwent a CT scan, revealing the bullet in the pelvic area. The projectile was removed under local anesthesia, via a minor incision, the doctors report, adding that no complications were observed following the surgical removal of the bullet. Follow-up appointments several months after the accident confirmed the absence of complications.

According to the physicians who authored this clinical case, gunshot wounds to the vulva are extremely rare. The main non-obstetric vulvar traumas, in other words not related to pregnancy, result from sports-related injuries, for example due to a fall from a bicycle, on the beam in artistic gymnastics, or even while riding.

The authors of the report said that “vulvic trauma” cases unrelated to pregnancy are extremely rare and are often the result of sports, including straddle injuries, burns, animal/human bites and sexual assault. Gunshot injuries are seen in “battlefield trauma or large urban areas with criminal implications,” the authors said.