Somalia: Stray bullet removed from woman’s clitoris in unprecedented injury

In what study authors described as the first case of its kind, a 24-year-old woman in Somalia underwent emergency surgery to remove a stray bullet that struck her clitoris while relaxing at home. 

Per New York Post, the woman’s case was recently highlighted in a report by the International Journal of Surgery Case Reports.“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first wayward bullet injury penetrating the vulvar area [the outer part of the female genitals] with a retained bullet in the clitoris,” study authors stated.

The study stated that the unidentified patient was struck in her private area while she was relaxing at home. The stray bullet is said to have penetrated the home’s ceiling before hitting the woman.

Shortly after the incident, the woman was rushed to the Erdoğan Hospital in the capital, Mogadishu, for medical attention; where a CT scan that was subsequently conducted showed that a bullet was lodged in her clitoris. 

“We thought it to be rare and interesting,” the study authors wrote, adding that the woman’s condition would have been worse if the bullet had not hit her at low velocity. The bullet was eventually removed from the woman’s private area after she went under the knife. She was discharged the next day in “good condition.”

She also remained in good health after she was examined a month later, per the New York Post. The report also stated that gunshot injuries usually happen in “battlefield trauma or large urban areas with criminal implications.”

“Tired bullet injuries are caused by low-velocity injuries, commonly seen in residential areas in war-torn countries such as Somalia,” the study authors wrote.