Between 1973 and 1986, 57 patients presented with a fracture of the pelvis with rupture of the posterior urethra. All of these patients were treated as an emergency and were then followed periodically with a minimal follow-up of 2 years. There were 4 cases of rupture of the prostatic urethra and 53 cases of rupture of the membranous urethra, including 32 complete ruptures and 21 partial ruptures. In the case of rupture of the membranous urethra, initial treatment, in 34 cases, was realignment by guiding catheter either immediately (25 cases) or deferred emergency (9 cases) and, in the other 19 cases, end-to-end urethrorrhaphy or urethroplasty (2 cases) as a deferred emergency (15th to 32nd day). The results were evaluated on the maximal flow/second and the flowmetry curve, intravenous pyelography with micturating and post-micturating films and the need for dilatations or reoperations. In the cases treated by realignment by guiding catheter, 28 of our 34 patients (82%) developed secondary stenosis which is difficult to treat because of the large amount of granulation tissue and fibrosis, although the best results were obtained by end-to-end urethrorrhaphy (75%). In contrast, repeated dilatations and optical urethrotomies were failures. Deferred emergency end-to-end urethorrhaphy, in 17 cases, ensured a good immediate result in 60% of our patients. Secondary stenosis (7 cases) was always short and easily accessible to optical urethrotomy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)