AAST Organ Injury Scale for Solid-Organ Trauma
The AAST Organ Injury Scale is the standard grading system for blunt solid-organ trauma, and its links straight to management (observation, angioembolization, surgery) make it one of the most-searched references on the trauma service. The 2018 revision was the biggest change: for spleen, liver, and kidney it incorporates CT findings of vascular injury — pseudoaneurysm, arteriovenous fistula, and active bleeding — so that a contained vascular injury can raise the grade even without gross parenchymal disruption. AAST maintains a living page with ongoing per-organ revisions, which makes “which version is current” a genuinely useful thing to track.
AAST maintains a living page with ongoing per-organ revisions — recent updates refine renal (2025) and pancreatic (2024) grading — so the current criteria vary by organ.
The biggest change: for spleen, liver and kidney it incorporates CT vascular-injury findings (pseudoaneurysm, AV fistula, active bleeding), so a contained vascular injury can raise the grade without gross parenchymal disruption.
Established organ-specific injury grades for solid-organ trauma, linked directly to management.
In a registry study of 849 patients with high-grade renal trauma, embolization was associated with lower in-hospital mortality (5% vs 17%) and acute kidney injury (4% vs 15%) compared with nephrectomy. Interventional radiology embolization may be a kidney-preserving option for s…
RadPigeon is an independent radiology news digest and is not affiliated with or endorsed by American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST). “AAST Organ Injury Scale” is a trademark of its owner and is named here only to refer to the system. Always consult the official source for the exact, current criteria.
