Renal artery embolization for iatrogenic renal vascular injuries management: 5 years' experience.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES Evaluate the efficacy and safety of Renal Artery Embolization (RAE) for Iatrogenic Renal Vascular Injuries (IRVI) management at our institution in the last 5 years. METHODS Retrospective analysis of all RAE procedures performed from January 2013 to December 2017. Patients-related (age, sex, vascular variants, hemoglobin and serum creatinine), IRVI-related (type and vascular level of IRVI, presence and extension of hematoma), management-related (temporal interval between diagnostic imaging and RAE) and procedure-related (embolic materials, technical success, clinical success and complications) parameters were evaluated. RESULTS 28 RAE procedures performed on 28 patients (21 Males; 7 Females) were included. 19/28 patients had pseudoaneurysm, 7/28 active bleeding and 1/28 arteriovenous fistula; 4/28 patients had a combination of 2 IRVI.The extent of perirenal hematoma showed correlation with the cause of IRVI (p = 0.028).Technical success was achieved in all patients whereas clinical success in 25/28 (89.3%), with three patient requiring re-treatment. Minor complications were observed during 2/28 (7.1%) endovascular procedures. No major complications occurred. A longer procedural time was observed in patients with lower pre-procedural levels of hemoglobin (p = 0.016).No differences were found in mean serum creatinine (p = 0.23) before and immediately after treatment, while values of creatinine at one week from the procedure were significantly lower (p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS RAE is safe and effective for the management of iatrogenic IRVI showing high technical and clinical success rate and low complication rate. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE Low pre-procedural hemoglobin levels increase procedural duration time. Glue alone or in combination with other materials is as safe as coils.