Injury
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The spleen is the most commonly injured solid organ following blunt abdominal trauma. Over recent decades, splenic artery embolization (SAE) has become the mainstay treatment for haemodynamically stable patients with high-grade blunt splenic trauma, with splenectomy the mainstay of treatment for unstable patients. ⋯ Established evidence suggests that following splenectomy immune function is impaired resulting in increased susceptibility to overwhelming post-splenectomy infection, however, immune function may be preserved following SAE. This review will discuss the current state of the literature on immune function following different treatments of blunt splenic injury, and the controversies surrounding what constitutes a quantitative test of splenic immune function.
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Renal injury accounts for 1-5% of all traumatic injuries. Non-operative management (NOM) of renal trauma has demonstrated higher renal salvage rates and reduced morbidity. ⋯ Although the findings of this review are based on retrospective data, they suggest routine early re-imaging can be safely omitted for all NOM, renal injuries which remain asymptomatic, with no collecting system injury diagnosed on initial CT, provided appropriate delayed phase imaging is available. Future prospective studies are required to further clarify the indications of early re-imaging, specifically for NOM penetrating injuries, and the appropriate modality and timing of early re-imaging for all NOM renal trauma.
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Renal injury accounts for 1-5% of all traumatic injuries. Non-operative management (NOM) of renal trauma has demonstrated higher renal salvage rates and reduced morbidity. ⋯ Although the findings of this review are based on retrospective data, they suggest routine early re-imaging can be safely omitted for all NOM, renal injuries which remain asymptomatic, with no collecting system injury diagnosed on initial CT, provided appropriate delayed phase imaging is available. Future prospective studies are required to further clarify the indications of early re-imaging, specifically for NOM penetrating injuries, and the appropriate modality and timing of early re-imaging for all NOM renal trauma.