Hematuria as a predictor of abdominal injury after blunt trauma

Among the 1,484 patients included in the Renal Trauma Project with evidence of blunt trauma and hematuria, 160 patients were found to have both hematuria and a significant intra-abdominal injury not related to the genitourinary system. The incidence of abdominal injury generally increased with the degree of hematuria, approaching 24% in patients with gross hematuria. For each category of degree of hematuria, patients with shock had a significantly higher incidence of abdominal injury (p < 0.05) than patients without shock. The incidence of abdominal injury in patients with microscopic hematuria and shock was 29%, and it was 65% for patients with both gross hematuria and shock. All patients with gross hematuria after blunt abdominal trauma and all patients with microscopic hematuria and a history of shock should be evaluated for both urologic and extra-renal abdominal injuries.