A retrospective observational study assessing mortality after pelvic trauma embolisation.

Area of Science:

• Traumatology
• Interventional Radiology
• Emergency Medicine

Background:

• Pelvic ring trauma can cause severe hemorrhage, with arterial injuries occurring in up to 10% of cases.
• Mortality rates for arterial pelvic trauma can be as high as 89% without effective management.
• Embolisation is a critical intervention for controlling arterial bleeding in pelvic trauma patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the 30-day all-cause mortality rate following pelvic trauma embolisation.
• To determine if the time from injury to embolisation impacts patient mortality.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective study was conducted at a single tertiary trauma center from January 2009 to June 2022.
• Included were adult patients who underwent embolisation for pelvic trauma, excluding those with angiography but no embolisation.
• Data from 147 patients were analyzed.

Main Results:

• The 30-day all-cause mortality rate was 11.6% (17 patients).
• The median time from injury to embolisation was 6.3 hours.
• Increasing age and injury severity score were associated with higher mortality, while non-selective embolisation was associated with lower mortality. Time to embolisation was not significantly associated with mortality.

Conclusions:

• Pelvic trauma embolisation is associated with a low 30-day mortality rate.
• Earlier embolisation was not found to be significantly associated with improved mortality outcomes.
• Despite findings, minimizing time to intervention for pelvic trauma hemorrhage remains a core management principle.