Renal vascular injuries

Conservative treatment of blunt traumatic right renal venous pseudoaneurysm: A case report

Introduction

Venous pseudoaneurysm is uncommon in blunt trauma patients, and renal venous pseudoaneurysm is especially rare, even though renal trauma occurs in approximately 8–10 % of abdominal trauma cases. There is controversy regarding the modality of treatment between surgery, conservative care, and radiologic intervention to manage renal venous pseudoaneurysms. We would like to share our experience treating blunt trauma patients having renal venous pseudoaneurysm with conservative care.

Presentation of case

A 53-year-old female patient was transferred to our trauma center following a pedestrian accident. Contrast-enhanced abdominal computed tomography (CT) showed right renal injury (grade II) with partial infarction (approximately 30–40 %) and peri-renal hematoma confined to Gerota's fascia without extravasation, a 3 cm sized right renal venous pseudoaneurysm, and a liver laceration (grade III) with a small amount of perihepatic hemoperitoneum. Since her vital signs were stable, with no decrease in the hemoglobin level in the short-term follow-up laboratory test, we decided to treat the patient conservatively in the trauma intensive care unit without angioembolization or surgery. The patient was discharged on the 14th day after OR/IF surgery for a right distal tibiofibular fracture. On a CT scan performed 1 month after discharge, a peri-renal hematoma was no longer observed, and the renal venous pseudoaneurysm had nearly improved.

Discussion

Patients with renal arterial injury with unstable vital signs require surgery or angioembolization. Even if vital signs are stable, arterial pseudoaneurysms are more likely to rupture; therefore, surgery or angioembolization is required. In contrast, venous pseudoaneurysms can be managed conservatively compared to intervention or surgery in vitally stable patients because they have a lower possibility of rupture due to relatively low pressure.

Conclusion

Renal venous pseudoaneurysms are very rare. Surgery, conservative care, and radiologic intervention should be considered depending on the patient's condition. Because venous blood flow is slower than arterial blood flow, renal venous pseudoaneurysm can be treated with conservative care if there are no injuries requiring further management and if the patient's vital signs are stable.

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Renal venous pseudoaneurysm is very rare in blunt abdominal trauma.

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The choice of treatment modality among surgery, conservative care, and radiologic intervention for renal venous pseudoaneurysm remains controversial.

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Renal venous pseudoaneurysms can be treated with conservative care if there are no injuries that require further management and the patient's vital signs are stable.

A bizarre case of fatal main renal artery partial laceration without primary kidney injury due to a single stab wound in the chest

Reno-vascular injuries are a rare type of renal injury, and their second most frequent cause is penetrating wounds. The majority of the reports and of the studies are present in the urological and radiological literature and they focus on the clinical approach to such injuries. In the case here presented, an 18-year-old male died after being stabbed in the left hemithorax. During body examination, thoracic organs were found to be unremarkable (except for a small peripheral laceration of the left lung), but the diaphragm was transfixed and the upper wall of the left main renal artery was lacerated. The adjacent renal vein, the kidney, the aorta, the vena cava and the surrounding internal structures were not damaged (except for a small laceration of the pancreatic tail). A massive haemothorax and a large retroperitoneal haematoma in the left kidney area were observed. The cause of death was attributed to haemorrhagic shock following a partial laceration of the left main renal artery due to the stab wound to the chest. No other cases of similar fatal renovascular injuries due to stab wounds have been published in the current forensic literature.

A rare case report of renal vein pseudoaneurysm after blunt trauma

RATIONALE

Renal vein pseudoaneurysm after blunt trauma is an extremely rare clinical disease. Different interventions, such as conservative, surgical, and endovascular treatments, can be considered. However, previous studies have not described the optimal treatment strategies for this condition. Furthermore, there is a significant lack of prior case reports and of standardized treatment guidelines for trauma-induced renal vein pseudoaneurysm patients who previously maintained antithrombotic agent.

PATIENT CONCERNS

A 23-year-old female patient visited the emergency department after sustaining blunt injury caused by falling. The patient was diagnosed with multiple limb and rib fractures. A right renal vein pseudoaneurysm was found on abdominal computed tomography scan. Initially, there was no other organ damage, and the patient was hemodynamically stable. Thus, nonsurgical, conservative management was considered. However, the patient's hematocrit and hemoglobin levels decreased, and there was no hemodynamic improvement. The patient required lifelong treatment with aspirin because she previously underwent Fontan surgery, and orthopedic surgery for multiple fractures was planned. Thus, considering these factors, the treatment method was changed from conservative management to endovascular stent insertion.

DIAGNOSES

Abdominal computed tomography and renal venography revealed a right renal vein pseudoaneurysm.

INTERVENTIONS

On the basis of the abdominal computed tomography scan and renal venography findings, the endovascular stent graft was inserted across the pseudoaneurysm area.

OUTCOMES

Upon placement of the endovascular stent, hemoglobin and hematocrit levels gradually returned to normal. The patient's vital signs and general condition had improved. The patient recovered without any complications and was discharged 29 days after hospitalization.

LESSONS

Some patients with traumatic renal vein pseudoaneurysm do not experience hemodynamic improvement despite conservative treatment. Hence, endovascular procedure may be considered for these patients, particularly those who require antithrombotic treatment for a previous disease.

Renal vein injuries: a 10-year, single institution experience with a rare injury following blunt abdominal trauma

PURPOSE

To determine the incidence, injury type, injury associations, and management of patients with renal vein injuries following trauma.

METHODS

This is a 10-year single-center retrospective observational study of patients with renal vein injuries identified on admission abdominopelvic CT following trauma. Our institutional trauma registry and radiology information system (RIS) was used to identify patients with renal vein injuries. The medical records and imaging exams were reviewed to determine venous injury type, associated injuries, management, and outcomes.

RESULTS

Fifteen (15) patients with renal vein injuries (N = 9 right side) were identified out of 36,077 trauma evaluations, for an overall incidence of 0.042%. Eight (53.3%) were male with a mean age of 36.3 years (range 9-67 years) and a mean Injury Severity Score (ISS) of 32 (range 13-57). The most common imaging findings were pseudoaneurysm formation with or without intimal injury and intraluminal thrombus seen in 86.7% of the cohort. Twelve patients (80.0%) had other acute traumatic renal findings, most commonly an ipsilateral grade 4 or higher renal injury. Angiography was performed in 6 patients (40.0%), however no patients received renal vein specific endovascular evaluation, endovascular treatment, or surgical treatment of their renal vein injuries. Three patients were treated with long-term anticoagulation, of which one received an IVC filter. There were no known renal vein injury specific mortalities.

CONCLUSIONS

Renal vein injuries are an extremely rare entity but can be detected on admission CT. The most common injury patterns include an intimal injury with intraluminal thrombus and pseudoaneurysm in combination with an intimal injury and intraluminal thrombus. Conservative, nonoperative management was successfully employed in all cases with no renal vein specific mortalities.

Contemporary Strategies in the Management of Civilian Abdominal Vascular Trauma

The evaluation and management of patients with abdominal vascular trauma or injury requires immediate and effective decision-making in these unfavorable circumstances. The majority of these patients arrive at trauma centers in profound shock, secondary to massive blood loss, which is often unrelenting. Moreover, ischemia, compartment syndrome, thrombosis, and embolization may also be life threatening and require immediate intervention. To minimize the risk of these potentially lethal complications, early understanding of the disease process and emergent therapeutic intervention are necessary. In the literature, the management of acute traumatic vascular injuries is restricted to traditional open surgical techniques. However, in penetrating injuries surgeons often face a potentially contaminated field, which renders the placement of prosthetic grafts inappropriate. Currently, however, there are sparse data on the management of vascular trauma with endovascular techniques. The role of endovascular technique in penetrating abdominal vascular trauma, which is almost always associated with severe active bleeding, is limited. It is worth mentioning that hybrid operating rooms with angiographic radiology capabilities offer more opportunities for the management of this kind of injuries by either temporary control of the devastating bleeding using endovascular balloon tamponade or with embolization and stenting. On the other hand, blunt abdominal injuries are less dangerous and they could be treated at most times by endovascular means. Since surgeons continue to encounter abdominal vascular trauma, open and endovascular techniques will evolve constantly giving us encouraging messages for the near future.

Renal trauma

The kidney is the most commonly injured genitourinary organ, and renal involvement has been reported in 1–5% of all trauma cases. Two mechanisms of renal injury are described, namely blunt (direct blow to the kidney, rapid acceleration/deceleration or a combination) and penetrating (from stab or gunshot wounds), with blunt injuries being most common in the UK. It is important to keep an index of suspicion for renal trauma as given by the mechanism of the injury or in poly-trauma. Accurate assessment and resuscitation are vital in the initial management. Imaging with computed tomography is critical to the accurate grading of the injury and helps guide subsequent treatment. The approach to management of renal injuries has changed over time. During the past two decades, advances in cross-sectional imaging coupled with minimally invasive intervention strategies (like angiography, embolisation and ureteric stenting) for managing traumatic renal injuries have allowed increased renal preservation by reducing the need for major surgical intervention. Nowadays, the vast majority of blunt injuries (up to 95%) are managed conservatively with accumulated experience suggesting this is safe. However, there is still a role for open surgical exploration in patients with haemodynamic instability or those who fail initial conservative/minimally invasive management.

Traumatic renal vein pseudoaneurysm

Traumatic renal injury is infrequent, occurring in ∼1% to 3% of trauma cases, with major renal vein injury an even more rare traumatic entity. Conservative, operative, and endovascular management strategies have been infrequently reported in the literature. We report a patient with traumatic renal vein injury with pseudoaneurysm formation that was successfully treated with endovascular stenting.

[Abdominal vascular lesions]

Abdominal vascular lesions are amongst the most lethal lesions suffered by patients with multiple injuries, as well as being among the most difficult and challenging for the surgeon. They are rarely isolated, they are usually found with associated multiple injuries, which increases its seriousness and the time required to repair them and may lead to a significant morbidity and mortality. The correct management involves an early diagnosis and surgical approach.

Urologic trauma guidelines: a 21st century update

Trauma is the leading cause of death between the ages of 1 and 44 years in the USA. While stabilization of life-threatening injuries is the primary goal in the evaluation of all trauma patients, subsequent diagnosis and treatment of secondary injuries are requirements for good trauma care. The genitourinary system is involved in 10% of trauma cases, and these injuries can be associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. Accordingly, physicians involved in the initial evaluation and subsequent management of trauma patients should be aware of the diagnosis and treatment of injuries that can occur in the genitourinary system. In 2009, the European Association of Urology provided specific recommendations for the evaluation, diagnosis and management of genitourinary trauma. Here, we review and discuss these recommendations in order to provide a concise summary for clinicians involved in the evaluation and management of trauma patients and their associated genitourinary injuries.

Isolated renal artery thrombosis because of blunt trauma abdomen: report of a case with review of the literature

BACKGROUND

Isolated renal trauma in case of blunt trauma abdomen (BTA) is not common. Renal artery occlusion by thrombosis in such cases is seen very rarely. These cases had been traditionally treated by early nephrectomy, but nowadays, renal preservation is considered whenever possible. Treatment options to do so are being developed.

METHODS

Recently we came across one such case of isolated unilateral renal artery thrombosis (RAT) because of BTA. Relevant literature especially on various therapeutic techniques has been critically reviewed briefly along with case presentation.

RESULTS

Isolated blunt traumatic RAT has an incidence of less than 1%. Only about 400 cases have been reported. It must be diagnosed and treated as soon as possible to avoid progressive permanent loss of renal function. Contrast-enhanced CT scanning is the preferred modality for evaluation and follow-up of RAT. Conservative treatment is reserved for unilateral cases. For bilateral cases and when RAT occurs in a solitary kidney, revascularization either surgically or more preferably by less invasive percutaneous techniques has been recommended.

CONCLUSION

Renal arterial thrombosis because of blunt abdominal trauma is still an underreported entity, treatment for which has not yet been established. Both early nephrectomy and delayed revascularization are not justified treatment options.

A 10-year review of blunt renal artery injuries at an urban level I trauma centre

INTRODUCTION

Little consensus exists over the management of high-grade renal injuries, with continued debate over observation versus invasive surgery. Blunt renal artery injury (BRAI) is a high-grade injury that may result in renal dysfunction, hypertension, or failure.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Management of BRAI at a level I trauma centre during a decade was retrospectively reviewed to determine incidence, assess management strategy, and evaluate hospital outcomes. Data collected included demographics, injury details, standardised scoring, renal injury grade, haemodynamic stability, diagnostic modalities, medical interventions, mortality, and hospitalisation length.

RESULTS

Thirty-eight BRAI patients (21 Grade IV and 17 Grade V injuries) were admitted, representing 0.16% of trauma admissions, and consisting primarily of young males. Ultrasonography and CT was performed in 92.1% and 76.3% of patients, respectively. Primary management included exploratory laparotomy in 42.9%, angiography and embolisation in 34.3%, and observation in 22.9%. Six nephrectomies and one revascularisation were performed. The incidence of BRAI and use of angiography are higher than those reported in previous studies.

CONCLUSION

Over the past decade, increased use of CT as a diagnostic tool for confirming renal injury in haemodynamically stable patients at our institution may have contributed to the increase in BRAI detection. Higher utilisation of angiography has enabled a more conservative approach. In this series, angiography had a success rate of 94.4%. Angiography and embolisation or observation with careful monitoring are viable management options in haemodynamically stable patients with isolated BRAI.

Management and hospital outcomes of blunt renal artery injuries: analysis of 517 patients from the National Trauma Data Bank

BACKGROUND

Blunt renal artery injuries are rare and no single trauma center can accumulate substantial experience for meaningful conclusions about optimal therapeutic strategies. The purpose of this study was to assess the incidence of renal artery injuries after different types of blunt trauma, and evaluate the current therapeutic approaches practiced by American trauma surgeons and the effect of various therapeutic modalities on hospital outcomes.

STUDY DESIGN

This was a National Trauma Data Bank study including all blunt trauma admissions with renal artery injuries. Demographics, mechanism of injury, Injury Severity Score, Abbreviated Injury Score for each body area (head, chest, abdomen, extremities) injuries, type of management (nephrectomy, arterial reconstruction, or observation), time from admission to definitive treatment, and hospital outcomes (mortality, ICU, and hospital stay) were analyzed. Multiple and logistic regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between type of management and hospital outcomes.

RESULTS

Of a total of 945,326 blunt trauma admissions, 517 patients (0.05%) had injuries to the renal artery. Of the 517 patients, the kidney was not explored in 376 (73%), 95 (18%) patients had immediate nephrectomy, and 45 (9%) patients underwent surgical revascularization. In 87 of 517 (17%) patients, renal artery injury was the only intraabdominal injury. Of the 87 patients with isolated renal artery injuries, 73 (84%) were observed, 7 (8%) underwent surgical revascularization, and 7 (8%) had early nephrectomy. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that patients who had surgical revascularization had a considerably longer ICU and hospital stay than observed patients. Patients who had nephrectomy had a considerably longer hospital stay than observed patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Blunt renal artery injury is rare. Nonoperative management should be considered as an acceptable therapeutic option.

[Urinary tract injuries in polytraumatized patients]

BACKGROUND

Within the S3 Guideline Project of the European Association of Urology (EAU) an expert committee was set up to develop guidelines for the appropriate management of genitourinary trauma. These European guidelines were accepted in principle as national guidelines by the German Urological Society. Therefore, they also became the basis of the contribution of the German Urological Society to the S3 Guideline Project "Polytrauma" of the German Society for Trauma Surgery.

METHOD

For the guideline "management of genitourinary trauma" all the requirements for classification as S3 guidelines were full-filled. The guideline itself was developed in accordance with the principles of "evidence-based medicine". A systematic analysis of literature published between 1966 and 2004 was carried out. The articles retrieved were assessed in respect of study design and clinical relevance and classified following the scheme of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine in Oxford.

CONCLUSION

In suspected renal injuries the hemodynamic situation of the patient is the benchmark for the diagnostic and therapeutic algorithm. The diagnostic gold standard for the assessment of haemodynamically stable patients is CT scanning. Uncontrolled haemodynamic instability is an indication for immediate explorative laparotomy. Partial ureteral tears are managed by stenting; complete tears by immediate surgical repair. Pelvic fractures are often associated with bladder ruptures. Extraperitoneal bladder ruptures, identified by retrograde cystography, are in most cases safely managed by simple catheter drainage. Intraperitoneal ruptures require surgical intervention. Blood at the meatus may suggest a urethral lesion-blind urethral catheterization should not be attempted. Suprapubic cystostomy and delayed urethroplasty are recommended.

Embolization of an Acute Renal Arteriovenous Fistula following a Stab Wound: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Surgery has traditionally been the definitive form of invasive management for renal vascular injuries. There is a growing trend in the use of endovascular techniques as an alternative to surgery in the trauma setting. We present the case of a 24-year-old woman with an acute renal arteriovenous fistula caused by a stab wound in the left flank, which was successfully managed with selective arterial embolization. This represents only the second reported case of such an approach in the acute setting.

MR imaging in abdominal emergencies

The use of MR imaging in the emergency setting is evolving. Clear indications include situations in need of contrast media when iodinated contrast cannot be administered or to facilitate assessments in pregnant patients and children when exposure to ionizing radiation is considered unacceptable. The availability of rapid, motion-immune sequences now makes MR imaging a feasible study in less cooperative patients extending the range of patients for whom a diagnostic study can be achieved. Capitalizing on the unique benefits of MR imaging there is optimism that MR imaging can eliminate test redundancy and impact patient care in a cost-effective manner. Further investigations are needed to identify the diagnostic algorithms for which this favorable use holds true.