This is a retrospective study all available records of patients admitted with the liver trauma to the surgical department of the Kyung Pook National University Hospital (K.N.U.H.) between 1966 and 1975.
The non-penetrating injuries accounted for 33 cases of the liver wounds, of which. 15 cases were due to the automobile collisions, 10 were caused by the falls and 7 were inflicted by the violence.
11 cases of the penetrating injuries were caused by the knives.
The injuries of the right lobe were 31 cases, left were 9 cases, combined injuries were 2 cases, and the caudate and quadrate lobe was 1 case, respectively. The associated injuries were 21 cases and the common organs involved were thorax, fractures of long bone, the vessel injuries and the small intestine in order of decreasing frequency.
Most of the cases were treated by a combination of simple closure, debridement, sutures with application of Gelfoam or gauze, and drainage. Hepatic resections of the injured liver were carried out on 5 cases, one was right, the others were left. Complications were noted in 25 cases (56.8%), with the predominance of the wound, infection, subphrenic abscess and pulmonary complications, Five cases (10.7%) of the non-penetrating injuries were expired. Three of them were caused by the refractory hypovolemic shock and two were caused by asphyxia or sepsis.
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