Purpose: We determine whether pediatric patients are more susceptible to major renal injury than adults.
Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 34 consecutive children 2 to 17 years old (mean age 10) and 35 consecutive adults 19 to 59 years old (mean age 32) with blunt renal trauma who presented to our 2 level I trauma centers between 1990 and 1996. Patients with incomplete charts were excluded from study. According to the organ injury scaling committee of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma renal injuries were graded based on computerized tomography results or laparotomy findings (4 adults) with major injuries classified as grade IV or V. Vascular injuries were excluded from study. Injury severity scores were calculated using the abbreviated injury scale.
Results: Injury severity scores ranged from 4 to 75 (mean 16) in the pediatric and 5 to 50 (mean 22) in the adult populations (p <0.01). Overall 16 of the 34 children (47%) and 8 of the 35 adults (23%) sustained major renal injuries (p <0.04). In 4 children who required surgical exploration for hemodynamic instability injury severity score ranged from 17 to 42 (mean 26) and all had major renal injuries. In 7 of the 35 adults (20%) who underwent surgical exploration because of hemodynamic instability and/or positive diagnostic peritoneal lavage injury severity score ranged from 22 to 50 (mean 34). Three of these 7 adults (42%) had major renal injuries and all had other visceral injuries at exploration.
Conclusions: Children are more likely than adults to sustain renal injury from blunt abdominal trauma.