• Sami Asfar, Mousa Khoursheed, Mervat Al-Saleh, Abdullah A Alfawaz, Medhat M Farghaly, Ali M Nur, and Liver Trauma Registry Group.
• The Liver Surgery Unit, Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital, Kuwait, Kuwait.
• Med Princ Pract. 2014 Jan 1; 23 (2): 160-6.

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to introduce the concept of non-operative management (NOM) for blunt liver trauma by establishing a protocol and a prospective Liver Trauma Registry in Kuwait.Subjects And MethodsA prospective Liver Trauma Registry was started in 4 hospitals and it included 117 patients who had sustained blunt liver trauma (94 men and 23 women). Unstable patients were taken to surgery while stable patients were managed conservatively regardless of the grade of liver injury. High-grade (III-VI) liver injuries were managed in collaboration with the liver surgery specialist.ResultsThe mean age of the 117 patients was 29.02 ± 11.18 years (range 7-63). NOM was successful in 94 (96%) patients and failed in 4 (4%) (these 4 then underwent successful surgery). Nineteen (16.2%) were unstable and underwent surgery immediately; 15 (79%) of them survived (they had had grade III-V injuries) and 4 died (2 with grade V injuries and 2 with grade VI injuries). Perihepatic packing was necessary in 8/19 (42%) patients. The overall mortality was 3.4% (4/117).ConclusionsThis study showed that NOM was successful in a majority of patients with blunt liver trauma. In addition, it confirmed that the magnitude of liver injury and haemoperitoneum did not preclude NOM as long as the patient was haemodynamically stable.© 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.

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