Abstract
Introduction
We aimed to evaluate whether hepatic transaminase levels could predict the presence
and severity of liver injury following abdominal trauma.
Methods
We performed a retrospective analysis of 75 surgically treated patients and 21 non-surgically
treated patients with liver injury who were managed between 2004 and 2012. We retrieved
demographic, laboratory, radiologic, and intraoperative data, as well as surgical
procedures and the outcome from the patients’ medical records. We compared the findings
between patients divided into 2 groups according to the severity of liver injury:
group 1, including patients with Grade 1 or 2 liver injuries; and group 2, including
patients with grade 3 to 5 liver injury.
Results
There were 87 (90.6%) males and 9 (9.4%) females. The mean age was 34 years (range,
17-90 years). The overall mortality rate was 14.6% (n = 14). The injury was blunt
in 83 patients (86.5%) and penetrating in 13 patients (13.5%). There were multiple
traumas in 60 patients (62.5%). Overall, 43 patients (44.8%) had a total of 61 coexisting
intraabdominal injuries. The circulating aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase,
and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels were significantly higher in group 2 than in
group 1.
Conclusions
In patients with abdominal trauma, abnormal hepatic transaminase and LDH levels are
associated with liver injury. Alanine aminotransferase ≤76 U/L, aspartate aminotransferase <130 U/L, and LDH ≤410 U/L are predictive of low-grade liver injury, and patients with serum liver levels
below these levels can be managed conservatively.
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: April 07, 2014
Accepted:
March 31,
2014
Received in revised form:
March 30,
2014
Received:
January 16,
2014
Footnotes
☆The authors have no commercial associations or sources of support that might pose a conflict of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
