CT diagnosis of renal pedicle injury.

The CT findings in 6 renal vascular injuries were reviewed. The most specific observations in traumatic renal arterial thrombosis were nonexcretion, "rim" enhancement, and abrupt termination of an enhanced renal artery. Other signs of a disrupted renal vascular pedicle included central retroperitoneal hematoma associated with limited perinephric hematoma causing lateral displacement of the kidney. We conclude that CT allows differentiation of the causes of the absent or poor urographic nephrogram after trauma and may obviate the need for time-consuming angiography. CT should replace excretory urography for the evaluation of polytrauma, especially when the mechanism of injury is compatible with pedicle disruption.