Does angiography increase the risk of impairment in renal function during non-operative management of patients with blunt splenic injuries? A cross-sectional study in southern Taiwan

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to assess whether angiography after contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) as per the policy of non-operative management would add to the risk of acute kidney injury in patients with blunt splenic injuries (BSIs). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Taiwan. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with BSI aged >16 years, admitted to a level I trauma centre during the period of January 2004 to December 2014, were retrospectively reviewed. A total of 326 patients with BSI with CECT were included in the study, of whom 100 underwent subsequent angiography and 226 did not. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Incidence of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) and renal function as measured by the 48-hour serum creatinine (SCr) levels. RESULTS: No significant difference between the patients who underwent angiography and those who did not in terms of the initial haemoglobin (Hb), SCr or estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) level on arrival at the emergency department, 48 hours later, or at discharge. No significant difference in the incidence of CIN was found between these two groups of patients regardless of the criteria for identifying CIN. In the group of patients aged ≥55 years, those who underwent angiography had a significantly worse 48-hour SCr level than those who did not undergo the treatment. In addition, there was no significant difference in the 48-hour SCr level between the two groups of patients when subgrouping the patients according to sex, large haemoperitoneum revealed on CT, systolic blood pressure, initial Hb, initial SCr and initial eGFR levels. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that angiography does not increase the incidence of CIN, and was not a risk factor to renal function impairment in patients with BSI who had undergone CECT.