The following is a summary of “Bladder deformity accompanied by pelvic fracture indirectly indicates clinical severity,” published in the May 2023 issue of Emergency Medicine by Ota, et al.

It is well-known that the bladder can be compressed by extraperitoneal hematoma resulting from obstetrics and gynecologic diseases. However, the clinical significance of a compressed bladder induced by pelvic fracture (PF) has not been extensively studied. Therefore, for a study, researchers sought to retrospectively investigate the clinical features of a compressed bladder induced by PF.

A retrospective review was conducted on the hospital medical charts of all emergency outpatients treated by emergency physicians in the Department of Acute Critical Care Medicine at our hospital from January 2018 to December 2021. Upon arrival, patients diagnosed with PF based on computed tomography (CT) were included in the study. The subjects were divided into the Deformity group, where the bladder was compressed by extraperitoneal hematoma, and the Normal group. Various variables were compared between the two groups.

During the investigation period, 147 patients with PF were included in the study. Among them, 44 patients were classified into the Deformity group, while 103 were classified into the Normal group. The two groups had no significant differences regarding sex, age, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), heart rate, or outcome. However, the average systolic blood pressure was significantly lower in the Deformity group, and the average respiratory rate, injury severity score, rate of unstable circulation, rate of transfusion, and duration of hospitalization were significantly higher in the Deformity group compared to the Normal group.

The study demonstrated that PF-induced bladder deformity was an unfavorable physiological sign associated with severe anatomical abnormalities, unstable circulation requiring transfusion, and prolonged hospitalization. Therefore, when treating patients with PF, physicians should evaluate the shape of the bladder as an important consideration.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0735675723000979