Objective: To analyze the sensitivity of renal ultrasonography and intravenous urography in renal trauma.
Methods: An extensive analysis on the sensitivity of IVP and US in the assessment of renal trauma was conducted using CT, renal selective arteriography or surgical exploration as the gold standard tests of reference to validate the initial diagnosis.
Results: IVP and US are useful techniques because of their high sensitivity in the diagnosis of renal trauma. The sensitivity of US decreases as the severity of the trauma increases (75% for grade I, 88.9% for grade II, 73.3% for grade III and 0% for grade IV), while that of IVP remains high for all degrees of severity (100% for grade I, 92% for grade II, 100% for grade III and 100% for grade IV).
Conclusions: IVP and US were found to be useful techniques because of their high sensitivity in the diagnosis of blunt renal trauma. The sensitivity of US decreases as the severity of the trauma increases, while that of IVP remains high for all degrees of severity.