Renal Injury Pathway Background and Objective(s) The kidney is the most frequently injured urologic organ, with 70% to 80% being a consequence of blunt trauma. Although few urologic injuries are immediately life-threatening, they do account for some of the more frequent complications of trauma. In the late 1990s, the American Pediatric Surgery Association (APSA) Trauma Committee developed non-operative management guidelines for blunt trauma to the abdomen to help standardize care. This pathway to help in the management of suspected or confirmed renal injury by doing the following: Standardize care to decrease variability in the management of patients with renal injuries Decrease length of stay to conform with current evidence-based guidelines Decrease unnecessary laboratory testing Avoid unnecessary PICU admissions Clearly delineate discharge criteria Algorithm Download Renal Injury Pathway Algorithm Quality Metrics Percentage of patients with pathway order set usage Percentage of patients with injury graded by radiologist Number of patients requiring embolization Number of patients requiring operative management Number of patients requiring blood transfusion Average length of stay (days) Educational Module Download Renal Injury Educational Module Key References Matthews LA, Smith EM, Spirnak JP. Nonoperative treatment of major blunt renal lacerations with urinary extravasation. J Urol. 1997 June;157(6):2056-8. Moore EE, Shackford SR, Pachter HL, et al. Organ injury scaling: spleen, liver, and kidney. J Trauma. Dec 1989;29(12):1664-6. Pathway Contacts Brendan Campbell, MD, MPH Samantha Pelow, APRN Jen Tabak, RN, MSN Disclaimer The clinical pathways in the above links have been developed specifically for use at Connecticut Children’s and are made available publicly for informational and/or educational purposes only. The clinical pathways are not intended to be, nor are they, a substitute for individualized professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Although Connecticut Children’s makes all efforts to ensure the accuracy of the posted content, Connecticut Children’s makes no warranty of any kind as to the accuracy or completeness of the information or its fitness for use at any particular facility or in any individual case. View all Clinical Pathways >
