Blunt Renal Trauma

In the pediatric patient, traumatic injury is the leading cause of death and blunt trauma is themost commonmechanism of injury. Renal injuries account for 8 to 12% of pediatric blunt abdominal injuries. Children, more so than adults, are prone to sustain major renal injury due to blunt trauma given the relatively large size of pediatric kidneys and decreased protection in children.1–3 The primary goal after blunt renal trauma is to preserve renal function. However, no well established guidelines best suited to accomplish this goal have been published in the pediatric literature. Variable strategies for mode of imaging, role of angioembolization (AE), intensive care unit (ICU) observation, length of bed rest, relevance of hematuria, role of ureteral stenting, the incidence of sequelae, and follow-up imaging have been employed. A review of current evidence is presented here to show current strategies for management of blunt renal trauma in the pediatric population.