Renal artery angioplasty and stenting are becoming more common nowadays. Even though still controversial, stenting is being utilized to treat renal artery stenosis. It has been used more frequently if renovascular hypertension is suspected. An unusual implementation of stenting is described below.

The patient presented after a high-speed motor vehicle accident. The patient was hypotensive and complaining of left-sided abdominal pain. CT abdomen/pelvis with IV contrast showed active extravasation from the renal artery.

The patient was promptly taken to the angiography suite where the extravasation (bleeding) from the renal artery was confirmed. See the upper image above with the arrow pointing to the extravasating contrast.

One of the treatment options was to embolize the bleeding vessel. This would likely cause left kidney failure, but would also stop the bleeding and help to avoid emergent surgery (nephrectomy or kidney removal)

The interventional radiologist was able to deploy a stent (expandable metal coil) into the renal artery, ceasing further bleeding (see the bottom image above).

The patient remains hemodynamically stable with no hematuria (blood in urine) and normal renal function.