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Background: Genitourinary fistula is a debilitating condition affecting women globally with high incidences in developing countries. It remains an indicator of the quality of health care delivery women are offered.Objective: To present the experiences of genitourinary fistulas (GUF) at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Rivers State. Methods:From January 2002 to December 2012, 104 consecutive patients with genitourinary fistulas were admitted for evaluation, treatment (surgical) and thereafter followed up. Demographic and clinical data were collected. The patients were re-evaluated 3 months after surgery.Results: Among the 67 patients treated surgically, 75% were aged between 18 and 36 years; 46 (44.2%) had vaginal repairs while 21 (20.1%) had abdominal repairs. The fistulas were caused majorly by prolonged obstructed labour (72.4%) with only 6 non obstetric causes. 37 of these patients are yet to be repaired after an initial examination under anaesthesia that was performed for every patient. These admissions do not represent or reflect the incidence of genitourinary fistulas in this centre. These characteristics provide data towards the development of an obstetric fistula prevention program in Rivers State as one presently does not exist. Conclusion:There is an increasing incidence of GUF in this environment basically due to poor obstetric care despite different strategies proposed by different studies to the government to prevent and eradicate GUF. It also demonstrates the ability of repair or cure to restore the dignity of our women if proper training and retraining of residents and specialists, funding and making health care and facilities available to these women.

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