Blunt renal trauma. Changes in aetiology, Diagnostic procedure, treatment and complications over thirty years

In a rural area with a relatively stable population, 216 persons were hospitalized for blunt renal trauma over a 30-year period (1946-75). In the final 10 years the frequency of such trauma increased, as also did the proportions of females and younger patients (11-30 years old). In the final 5 years the overall incidence was 6.2 cases per 100 000 inhabitants and year. Motor traffic accidents were increasingly the cause of blunt renal trauma. Injuries from compression showed a stable frequency. Renal trauma attributed to blows varied with the incidence of accidents involving horses and sports. Treatment was mainly conservative, except in major injuries. Emergency excretory urography was rarely used during the first 10 years of the study, but thereafter with increasing frequency. Early complications were seen only during the first 20 years of the study.