Interventional radiology in trauma victims: analysis of 51 consecutive patients

Injured patients whose treatment included the use of radiologic catheter techniques were reviewed to determine the clinical utility of radiologic intervention. In the past 4 years, 51 patients have undergone 53 radiologic procedures, predominantly angiographic hemostasis. Thirty-eight of 45 sites of hemorrhage from the neck, abdomen, pelvis, and extremities were successfully controlled. Nine of 11 abscesses were adequately drained and definitively treated by percutaneous methods. Twenty-eight of the 31 patients with shock or with life-threatening hemorrhage or sepsis, treated by the radiologist, were salvaged. Based on our results, we believe that a radiologist, knowledgeable about trauma and expert in catheter techniques, plays a vital role in improving patient survival and should be integrated into the trauma team approach.