ABSTRACT
H. Leon Pachter, Amber A. Guth Introduction The liver is the most frequently injured intraperitoneal organ, at risk by virtue of
its location and size for both penetrating and blunt thoracoabdominal trauma. While complex hepatic injuries carry a 20% mortality rate, the routine use of high-speed computed tomographic (CT) scanning in the evaluation of bluntly-injured trauma patients has resulted in the detection of minor, asymptomatic injuries that would not have been diagnosed in the past. The frequent recognition of these lesser hepatic injuries has prompted the adoption of nonoperative management of liver trauma over the last decade. In this Chapter, the indications for operative and nonoperative management, surgical techniques, and outcomes of hepatic injuries are reviewed.
