Isolated high-grade splenic injury among pediatric patients in Japan: Nationwide descriptive study

Abstract

Background: Limited information exists regarding the clinical characteristics, management practice, and outcomes of pediatric patients with isolated splenic injury in Japan. This study aimed to evaluate the characteristics, management, and outcomes, such as survival and splenic salvage rate of pediatric patients with isolated splenic injury in Japan.

Method: This study was a multicenter retrospective cohort study using patient data from the Japan Trauma Data Bank (JTDB) collected between 2004 and 2018. Pediatric patients with isolated high-grade splenic injury whose abbreviated injury scale≥3 were classified according to management groups: nonoperative management (NOM); NOM with splenic artery embolization (SAE); and operative management (OM). The primary outcome was in-hospital survival and the secondary outcomes were splenic salvage rate, hospital length of stay (LOS), rate of discharging to home, and complications.

Results: There were 230 pediatric patients with isolated high-grade splenic injury during the study period. Of these, 156 (68%) were managed by NOM, 62 (27%) were managed by NOM with SAE, and 12 (5.2%) were managed by OM. No pediatric patient with isolated high-grade splenic injury died between 2004 and 2018 in Japan, and the splenic salvage rate was 97%.

Conclusion: We identified a high survival rate and splenic salvage rate among pediatric patients with isolated high-grade splenic injury in Japan. SAE was often used, in contrast with previous reports.

Levels of evidence: Level IV.

Keywords: Embolization; Nonoperative management; Pediatric; Splenic artery; Splenic injury; Trauma.