[Traumatic Thrombosis of the Renal Artery following Seat-Belt Injury].

Renal artery thrombosis is a rare complication of blunt abdominal injury. It occurs most frequently in car accidents in which sudden deceleration results in multiple internal injuries. Renal artery occlusion occurs rarely as an isolated blunt trauma. This report presents a case of traumatic occlusion of the left renal artery with complete ischaemia of the left kidney in a haemodynamically stable girl who suffered multiple seat-belt injuries in a car crash. Ambiguous findings on a CT scan of the abdominal cavity indicated surgical inspection of the abdomen and, since the injury-to-surgery interval was short, an attempt at revascularisation of the left kidney was made. This was performed using laparotomy through a lateral left-side incision, as an uncommon approach to the injured organs. A seat-belt fracture of the L2/3 spine was stabilised at secondstage surgery. Key words: renal artery thrombosis, seat-belt fracture of the lumbar spine.