Nonoperative Treatment for Grade IV Liver Injury

Kwon, Sang Hwi; Lee, Seon Ki; Park, Jin Young; Hwang, Yun Jin; Kim, Sang Geol; Yun, Young Kook

Abstract

PURPOSE
Though the nonoperative management of liver injury (NOMLI) has frequently been employed for traumatic liver injuries, the indications for NOMLI for grade IV liver injuries are still controversial. To determine the usefulness of the NOMLI in grade IV liver injuries, the clinical features of an operative management (n=26) and a NOMLI group (n=20) were compared. METHODS: For the 10 years up until Feb. 2004, 46 grade IV liver injury cases, according to the AAST liver injury scale, at the Kyung Pook National University Hospital, were selected for this study. The clinical features, grade of liver injury and outcomes of treatments were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: Of the 46 cases 40 (87%) and 6 (13%) were male and female, respectively. The mean ages of the male and female cases were 37.6 (15.2 and 34.5 (16.7 years, respectively. The causes of liver trauma were vehicle accident (71.7%, 33/46), industry accident (26.1%, 12/46) and violence (2.2%, 1/46). The accompanying abdominal injury was not present in the NOMLI group compared to 30.8% (8/26) in the operative management group. NOMLI was more than 2 times more frequently indicated after Feb. 1999. The mortality in operative management group was 11.5% (3/26) compared with none in the NOMLI group. 20% (4/20) of NOMLI group failed due to delayed bleeding and eventually had to undergo operations and the 80% (16/20) of NOMLI group was successful. The morbidity in successful NOMLI group was bile collection (6.25%, 1/16) and empyema (6.25%, 1/16). CONCLUSION: Nonoperative management for grade IV liver injury in hemodynamically stable patients without accompanying abdominal injury was successful. However, continuous monitoring and immediate operative management should be prepared for the delayed bleeding.