Abstract: Background: Liver injury is commonly associated with abdominal trauma, both blunt
and penetrating. Management strategies for liver trauma vary, with differing
degrees of success. This retrospective single-center study aimed to compare
surgical and non-operative management strategies in 54 patients with liver
trauma.
Methods: Patients were categorized into two groups: Group I
(operative management) and Group II (conservative management). The analysis
included demographic, clinical, radiological data, treatment outcomes,
mortality, and hospital stay.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 26±11.7 years,
with a male predominance (75.93%). Surgical management was employed in 42
patients (77.78%), while 12 patients (22.22%) received conservative treatment.
All patients with a negative focused assessment with sonography in trauma
(FAST) were managed conservatively, showing a significant difference from those
with a positive FAST. Rigid abdomen was significantly more common in the
surgical group compared to the conservative group (47.62% vs. 16.67%). Additionally,
45.24% of patients in the surgical group had severe injuries, while none in the
conservative group did, with a significant difference. Hemodynamic instability
was also a determining factor for surgical intervention. The mortality rates
were 8.33% in the conservative group and 9.52% in the surgical group.
Conclusion: operative management was more commonly used than
non-operative management for traumatic liver injury. Factors associated with
the need for surgery included hemodynamic instability, rigid abdomen, severe
injury, positive FAST, and higher liver injury grade.