At first blush: absence of computed tomography contrast extravasation in Grade IV or V adult blunt splenic trauma should not preclude angioembolization.

BACKGROUND: To clarify the role, indications, and outcomes for angioembolization (AE) of nonoperatively managed (NOM) splenic trauma, the implications of absent contrast blush (CB) on computed tomography of high-grade (IV-V) blunt splenic trauma (BST) in adults were analyzed.

METHODS: All BST patients presenting at a single institution from July 2000 to December 2011 were retrospectively reviewed. Grade of injury (American Association for the Surgery of Trauma scale), CB on initial computed tomography, numbers of NOM and undergoing AE, and failures of NOM were analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed using χ(2).

RESULTS: Of the 1,056 total BST patients, 556 (64%) were hemodynamically stable and eligible for NOM; 95 NOM patients (17%) had CB. AE was performed in 88 of these, with angiographic extravasation found in 86 (97.7%), and 3 of these 88 (3.4%) failed NOM. The remaining 7 CBs were observed without AE, of which 5 (71.4%) failed NOM (p = 0.0004). Of all 556 NOM patients, 51 (9.5%) had high-grade injuries without CB; 20 of these (39%) underwent AE, 17 (85.0%) underwent angiographic extravasation, and there were no NOM failures in this group. The other 31 high-grade injuries without CB or AE had 8 failures of NOM (26%) (p = 0.03).

CONCLUSION: The strong correlation of CB with active bleeding on angiogram mandates AE for CB in all BST undergoing NOM. However, the absence of CB in high-grade (IV-V) BST does not reliably exclude active bleeding. This may be the reason for the high reported failure rates of NOM in high-grade (IV-V) BST because AE is not typically performed in the absence of CB. These data suggest that all hemodynamically stable high-grade (IV-V) BST in adults should undergo AE regardless of CB to optimize the success and safety of NOM.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic study, level III.