Diagnosis and treatment of renal trauma in 298 patients

To investigate the diagnosis and treatment of renal trauma.

Retrospective analysis of 298 patients with renal trauma was carried out. Among them, 272 (91.3%) had blunt renal injuries and 26 (8.7%) had penetrating injuries; 123 (41.3%) had multiple complicated intraabdominal injuries and 56 (18.8%) had concomitant shock. Normal-dose-IVU examination was used in 39 patients and double-dose-IVU in 44 patients, ultrasonography in 109 patients, and CT in 45 patients. Conservative and supportive therapy was done in 193 patients (64.8%) and operation in 105 patients (35.2%).

The positive rate was 48.7% by the normal-dose-I VU examination and 90.9% by double-dose-IVU, 78.8% by ultrasonography, and 95.6% by CT. One hundred and eighty-three patients were cured by conservative therapy and 101 by operation. Fourteen patients died.

B-ultrasound can be conveniently used for primary assessment of renal injuries, while CT shows rapid, accurate and proper condition of a renal trauma patient. The treatment depends on the severity of the injury. The conservative therapy is employed in most cases which present slight or moderate injury and no evident massive bleeding. Severe injury requires surgical exploration. The operative approach is by using a transabdominal incision, which makes it relatively easy to explore intraabdominal organs and control the injured kidney. It is also very important to control shock and prevent other severe complications in the early stage of the treatment.