Traumatic Kidney Injury: A 6-Year Retrospective Study in Childhood and Adolescence

BACKGROUND: Traumatic kidney injuries are the most common urinary tract injuries. Pediatric patients are more susceptible to renal injury from blunt trauma than adults because of anatomic factors. The aim of this publication was to provide a reference for traumatic kidney injury in the pediatric group based on the study in our center. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted from January 2014 to December 2019 to review medical records of children admitted with renal trauma. Relevant findings including demographics, mechanisms and grades of injury, clinical parameters, interventions, and outcomes were recorded. RESULTS: Thirty-three pediatric patients were investigated. Males experienced traumatic kidney injury more often than the females with a ratio of 10:1. Most cases occurred during the adolescent (12–18) years (81.82%). Left-side kidney injury (63.64%) was more frequent than right side (36.36%). Most cases (96.97%) were caused by blunt trauma, mainly traffic accidents (81.82%). Most patients (90.91%) had stable hemodynamics. Grade IV kidney injury was the most frequently found injury (39.39%). The cause of renal function disturbance was based on the blood urea nitrogen/creatinine (BUN/Cr) ratio with 21.87% of patients suffering from intra-renal causes and 12.5% from pre-renal causes. No significant association between different grades and BUN/creatinine ratio was found. Isolated renal injuries were found in 54.54% of patients. Most patients were treated conservatively (87.88%), and survival was 96.97%. CONCLUSION: Non-operative management is safe and yields good outcomes in kidney trauma patients with stable hemodynamics. Renal trauma severity is not associated with the BUN/Cr ratio.