Use of Interventional Radiology in Critically Injured Children Admitted in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of a Developing Country

Objective The aim of this study was to describe the outcome of the use of interventional radiological procedures (IRP) (angioembolization) in critically injured children. Methods A retrospective review of medical records of all children who underwent an IRP from January 2010 to December 2015 was done. Data were collected on a structured proforma and results are presented as mean with standard deviation and frequency with percentages. Result Eighteen patients were identified who underwent IRP during the study period. The mean age was 10.4 ± 4.3 years and 10 (55%) were males. Ten patients had a road traffic accident, four had a history of fall, one patient had glass cut pelvic injury, and two patients had blunt abdominal trauma, while one patient had bleeding secondary to hemipelvectomy. The genitourinary system was involved in five patients, liver in four, and spleen in two and pancreas in one patient. Bleeding was from branches of internal iliac artery in seven patients, hepatic artery in three patients, splenic artery in two patients, and middle colic artery in one patient, while one patient had blood oozing from the bone after hemi-pelvictomy. Four French vascular access sheath was placed under ultrasound guidance; this was followed by the placement of C1 catheter (Cordis, Miami, FL). After vessel identification, a 2.7F Progreat microcatheter (Terumo, Tokyo) was used for super-selective cannulation of the bleeding vessel. Intravascular coil, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) particles, or gel foam was used for the embolization of bleeding vessels. No procedural complications were observed except minor oozing in one patient. One patient expired due to multiorgan dysfunction. Conclusion Angioembolization is a useful and relatively safe procedure in the management of vitally stable children with hemorrhagic abdominopelvic injuries. However, further studies may be needed to evaluate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of this practice, especially in resource-constrained settings.