Bladder inflation to reduce hemorrhage secondary to a pelvic fracture

Bladder inflation may be a temporizing measure to tamponade pelvic bleeding in select trauma cases to bridge the patient to definitive interventions. Ultrasonographic confirmation of an intact bladder with an adjacent pelvic haematoma in a shocked adult with pelvic fracture is used for subject selection. An illustrative example of physiologic and interventional radiological control of pelvic bleeding following bladder inflation with sterile saline is presented.