Broken kidney: traumatic fracture of a renal allograft

Although many renal transplant recipients are protective of their grafts and often express concern about the possibility of traumatic injury, such injury has been reported only rarely. We describe a case report of a boy who sustained an injury to his renal allograft after a bicycle accident. Despite a dramatic anatomic abnormality seen on magnetic resonance imaging, he suffered only minor and self-limited symptomatic and clinical consequences. We reviewed the literature addressing traumatic injuries affecting renal allografts. The long-term consequences of such injuries on allograft function and survival are unknown.