Traumatic injuries to the liver and spleen occur commonly in our motorized and violent society. This report contains a retrospective study of 173 cases of liver and spleen injuries, that underwent treatment from Jan. 1991 to Dec. 1995 at the
Department
of Surgery Daegu Catholic University Hospital.
1) The sex distribution consisted of 133 males(76.9%) and 40 females (23.1%) and third decade(27.3%) showed the highest incidence.
2) As the causes of injuries, blunt abdominal trauma composed 165 cases(95.4%) and penetrating trauma were 8 cases(4.6%).
3) The common manifestations were abdominal pain (98.3%), abdominal tenderness (88.4%), rebound tenderness(31.2%), dyspnea(26.6%), abdominal rigidity, abdominal distension, nausea & vomiting, hypotension and so on.
4) The frequency of nonoperative management increased from 12.5% in 1991 to 57.7% in 1995 in patients with hepatic injuries, and 0% to 35.3% in patients with splenic injuries.
5) The abdominal paracentesis showed positive in 113 cases(80.1%) out of 141 cases.
6) Blood transfusion was required in 152 cases(87.9%) and massive transfusion above 5 pints was required in 63 cases(36.4%).
7) The associated extra-abdominal injuries were chest injury (38.7%), head injury (17.3%), limb fracture(21.4%), pelvic fracture(9.8%) and so on
8) Mean hospitalization was 41.6 days in operative management and 28.5 days in nonoperative management of the patients with hepatic injuries, 23.8 days in operative management and 11.3 days in nonoperative management of the patients with splenic
injuries.
9) Postoperative complications developed in 29 cases(23%), with intraabdominal abscess (6.3%) being the most common complication.
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