The American surgeon
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The American surgeon · Nov 1984
The treatment of 179 blunt trauma-induced liver injuries in a statewide trauma center.
The records of 179 patients who were admitted to a statewide trauma center with liver injuries from blunt abdominal trauma are reviewed. The overall mortality for the 119 men and 60 women was 35 per cent. The simpler forms of injury (classes 1, 2, and 3) were easily treated and yielded good results, whereas treatment for major injuries, involving lobar destruction and vena caval injury (classes 4 and 5), yielded poor results. ⋯ Infection played a significant role in the deaths of 27 patients. In eight of these 27 patients, the infections were related directly to the liver injury. The number of associated injuries per patient appeared unrelated to the overall outcome of the injury.