Conservative treatment of intraperitoneal bladder perforations: a conscious choice or forced measure

Intraperitoneal traumatic perforations of the bladder of any origin (e.g., external trauma, iatrogenic injuries) and spontaneous ruptures are conditions that, according to the canons of surgery, require emergency surgical intervention by one or another access. However, some studies have indicated the possibility of conservative management of such patients — both adults and children. A review of publications describing the results of conservative treatment of patients with intraperitoneal bladder perforations was performed. Overall, 2,679 publications related to intraperitoneal perforations of the bladder were found in the available scientific databases, of which only 72 focused on issues of conservative treatment. In 13 of them, the possibility of such an approach is denied, but without reference to their own material. Analysis of the literature demonstrated that conservative management of intraperitoneal perforations of the may be feasible in certain circumstances, sometimes being a crucial measure. Indications for conservative treatment techniques include the absence of peritonitis, small perforation size, and short periods from the moment of perforation. However, all these indications are in the nature of opinions and assumptions and are not part of algorithmic tactics. The effectiveness of this approach remains unclear. The frequency of unsatisfactory outcomes ranges from 10% to 50%, which indicates the inappropriateness of conservative treatment. With the small number of studies and conflicting results obtained prohibits us to consider this technique as the method of choice for treating patients with intraperitoneal perforations of the bladder.