A 9-year experience of renal injury at an Australian level 1 trauma centre.

OBJECTIVE: To detail the 9-year experience of renal trauma at a modern Level 1 trauma centre and report on patterns of injury, management and complications. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We analysed 338 patients with renal injuries who presented to our institution over a 9-year period. Data on demographics, clinical presentation, management and complications were recorded. RESULTS: Males comprised 74.9% of patients with renal injuries and the highest incidence was amongst those aged 20-24 years. Blunt injuries comprised 96.2% (n = 325) of all the renal injuries, with road trauma being the predominant mechanism accounting for 72.5% of injuries. The distribution of injury grade was; 21.6% grade 1 (n = 73), 24.3% grade 2 (n = 82), 24.9% grade 3 (n = 84), 16.6% grade 4 (n = 56), and 12.7% grade 5 (n = 43). Conservative management was successful in all grade 1 and 2 renal injuries, and 94.9%, 90.7% and 35.1% of grade 3, 4 and 5 injuries respectively. All but one of the 13 patients with penetrating injuries were successfully managed conservatively. CONCLUSIONS: Road trauma is the greatest cause of renal injury. Most haemodynamically stable patients are successfully managed conservatively.