Post-biopsy renal allograft compartment syndrome: Addressing the problem, illustrated with a case report

Renal allograft compartment syndrome (RACS) has recently been coined to describe early allograft dysfunction secondary to raised pressure in the retroperitoneal space. This may be caused by direct compression of the renal vessels or by a diffuse renal parenchymal compression. Herein, we report a renal allograft compartment syndrome secondary to a needle core transplant biopsy and discuss the management strategies in line with an updated literature review.

A retrospective case-note review was carried out where a 45-year-old male had a transplant renal biopsy at 4-weeks after transplant for raising creatinine. Following biopsy patient developed abdominal discomfort and had haematuria.

Doppler ultrasound scanning of graft demonstrated good perfusion but a small haematoma (2 × 2 × 2 cm) in the upper pole of the kidney at the site of the biopsy. Patient was thereafter assessed conservatively with serial ultrasound monitoring. After 24 h, significant deterioration of graft function was observed. The third scan, demonstrated reversed flow in diastole in the upper pole of the kidney with a resistive index of 1.0 in the main renal vessel. With the above findings the kidney transplant was explored immediately and the transplant released from a 300 ml of liquefied haematoma, which was under considerable pressure. In the next 24-h, the patient showed an immediate return of graft function.

We recommend sequential ultrasound Doppler scanning as an invaluable tool to help identify early RACS. The surgical exploration and adequate heamostasis with surgical glue should be sought out in all RACS.