Pediatric Adrenal Trauma in the 21st Century: Children's Hospital of Atlanta Experience

Purpose: Adrenal trauma in children is rare and poorly characterized. To characterize these injuries better, we reviewed the contemporary experience at a large pediatric trauma center. Materials and Methods: We queried the trauma registry of Children's Hospitals of Atlanta for all patients treated for adrenal trauma (ICD-9 codes 868.01 and 868.11) between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2009. We performed a detailed chart review. Results: Of 12,045 patients who were treated for trauma during the study period 42 children (0.35%) with adrenal injuries were identified. All injuries resulted from blunt trauma. Motor vehicle crash was the most common mechanism, responsible for 41% of injuries. A total of 41 cases (98%) were diagnosed by computerized tomography and 1 during exploratory laparotomy for associated vascular injury. Injuries were to the right adrenal gland in 36 cases (86%), left in 5 (12%) and bilateral in 1 (2%). The most common associated regions were the liver (55%), head or brain (33%) and skeleton (31%). Five patients (12%) experienced isolated adrenal injuries. One patient required treatment for adrenal insufficiency and none required adrenalectomy, adrenalorrhaphy or adrenal embolization. Of patients with isolated adrenal injuries 2 were hospitalized and 3 were treated as outpatients. All had an unremarkable course. Conclusions: Adrenal trauma in children is rare. Although typically associated with high morbidity, this outcome is likely from related injuries as an isolated adrenal injury generally portends a benign course.