liver and biliary trauma
TRANSCRIPT
Case Presentation
Dr Mohammad Tallal Abdullah
Post Graduate Resident
Surgical Unit ll
SHL
History
• A 19 year old male
• Presented in surgical emergency with history of road side accident about 3 hrs back
• Patient was riding on bike
• Hit by a Mazda loader from the side and was dragged along the vehicle for some distance on road
Physical examination
• Pulse 100 bpm
• B.P 90/60
• R/R 22 /min
• O2 sat 95%
• Airway was clear
• C-spine was intact
• Relatively reduced air entry on right side of chest with subcutaneous emphysema
• Imprint sign over right hypochondrium
• Abdomen was tender and tense with positive guarding sign
• Pelvis stable
• All four limbs normal
• There was no obvious bleeding seen at the time of presentation
• There were no signs and symptoms of head injury
• Patient had a GCS of 15/15 and was responding to verbal commands
Management• Chest intubation
• Main goal: Resuscitation
• 2 wide bore IV lines
• I/V Fluids rushed
• I/V Analgesia
• Anti tetanus toxoid
• I/V Antibiotic
• Nasogastric tube
• Catheterization
• Vitals monitoring
Workup
• CBC: Hb 11.5TLC 15,000
• RFTs: ALT 60• Other baseline investigations unremarkable • blood grouping and cross matching• CXR• FAST scan (moderate amount of fluid in
abdomen and pelvis)• urine examination• CT scan
LIVER TRAUMA
• Liver is one of the most commonly injured organs in abdominal trauma.
• Most common cause is blunt abdominal trauma which is usually as a result of RTA.
• Liver trauma can either be due to:#Blunt abdominal trauma#Penetrating abdominal trauma#Iatrogenic
Grading Of Traumatic Liver Injury
Traumatic liver injury can be graded according to either:
-hepatic hematoma
-or hepatic laceration
And at worse, major vascular injury/avulsion is graded as grade 6
Grade IHematoma: Subcapsular, nonexpanding, < 10% surface area.Laceration: Capsular tear, nonbleeding, < 1cm deep.
Grade IIHematoma: Subcapuslar, nonexpanding, 10-50% surface area; intraparenchymal, nonexpanding, < 2cm diameter.Laceration: Capsular tear, active bleeding; 1-3cm deep, < 10cm in length.
Grade IIIHematoma: Subcapsular, > 50% surface area or expanding; ruptured subcapsular hematoma with active bleeding.Laceration: Intraparenchymal hematoma > 2cm or expanding; > 3cm deep.
Grade IVHematoma: Ruptured intraparenchymal hematoma with active bleeding.Laceration: Parenchymal disruption involving 25-50% of hepatic lobe.
Grade VLaceration: Parenchymal disruption involving > 50% of hepatic lobe.
Grade VIVascular: Juxtahepatic venous injury; ie. Retrohepatic vena cava / major hepatic veins, hepatic avulsion.
Grade I
Hematoma: Subcapsular, nonexpanding, < 10% surface area.Laceration: Capsular tear, nonbleeding, < 1cm deep.
Grade II
Hematoma: Subcapuslar, nonexpanding, 10-50% surface area; intraparenchymal, nonexpanding, < 2cm diameter.Laceration: Capsular tear, active bleeding; 1-3cm deep, < 10cm in length.
Grade III
Hematoma: Subcapsular, > 50% surface area or expanding; ruptured subcapsular hematoma with active bleeding.Laceration: Intraparenchymal hematoma > 2cm or expanding; > 3cm deep.
Grade IV
Hematoma: Ruptured intraparenchymal hematoma with active bleeding.Laceration: Parenchymal disruption involving 25-50% of hepatic lobe.
Grade V
Laceration: Parenchymal disruption involving > 50% of hepatic lobe.
Management
Conservative
• Hemodynamically stable patients with abdominal trauma with mild to moderate grade of liver injury (1-3)
• Hollow viscus injuries must have been ruled out
Surgical
• Hemodynamically unstable patients with deterioration during observation
• All grade 4 and above hepatic injuries
• Gunshot or stab wound with penetration of peritoneum
Surgical options
• Exploratory laparotomy is done and primary focus is to secure hemostasis. 4 P’s
• ‘Push’. Traumatized liver is manually closed
• ‘Pringle’. Hemostatic clamp over hepatoduodenalligament
• ‘Plug’. Any penetrating injury to liver can be plugged.
• ‘Pack’
• Other options include hepatotomy, suturing, parenchymal resection, vascular repair and ligation
Back to case….
• Exploratory laparotomy done revealing:
i. 1.5 litre hemoperitoneum
ii. Laceration of hepatic segment V, Vl, Vll,
iii. Suspicion of biliary leakage
Buttress sutures applied to the major segment Vl laceration And Liver Packing was done…
3 pints of whole blood transfused peroperatively
Patient shifted to SICU on ventilator where he remained hemodynamically stable
• Packs removed after 48 hours. Hemostasis was secured.
• There was evidence of biliary leakage but exact site couldn’t be identified…
A subhepatic drain was placed then..
Patient had a drain output averaging 100-150 ml each day. Yellow in color
With persistent C/O pain epigastrium associated with nausea.
Recurrent episodes of fever not settling with antibiotics.
BILIARY FISTULA
Biliary Fistula
• The most common accepted definition of a bile leak requires the presence of the following:– bile discharge from an abdominal wound and/or
drain, with a total bilirubin level of >5 mg/mL or three times the serum level
– intra-abdominal collections of bile confirmed by percutaneous aspiration
– cholangiographic evidence of dye leaking from the opacified bile ducts
World Journal of Surgery, vol. 27, no. 6, pp. 695–698, 2003.
ETIOLOGY
• Bile leaks mainly result from injury to theextrahepatic bile duct during cholecystectomy.
• A bile leak from the intrahepatic biliary tree isless frequent and generally follows liver surgery
• After blunt or penetrating abdominal trauma
• Less commonly, bile leaks from the liver mayresult following drainage of a liver abscess ornonsurgical ablation of liver lesions / hydatidcysts.
Natural Progression
• Most bile leaks settle spontaneously
• Others will settle with interventions such asERCP.
• Only a few require surgical management inthe form of hepaticojejunostomy.
Types
• Nagano et al. have classified postoperative bile leaks into four types :
• Type A: minor leaks from small bile radicles on the surface of the liver which are usually self-limiting,
• Type B: leaks from inadequate closure of the major bile duct branches on the liver’s surface,
• Type C: injury to the main duct commonly near the hilum,
• Type D: leakage due to a transected duct disconnected from the main duct.
Management - Overview
• Type A leaks usually close spontaneously with external drainage although sometimes ERCP and sphincterotomy may be required.
• Types B and C can be managed by ERCP and stenting combined with drainage of the bile collection.
• Type D leaks require surgery and bilioentericanastomosis or, if the draining segment is small, fibrin glue occlusion or acetic acid ablation. Sometimes operative excision of the excluded segment may be required [10,11].
Bile leaks after liver trauma –(Non-iatrogenic)
• Overall the incidence of intrahepatic bile ductinjury after blunt trauma for all grades ofinjury varies from 2.8% to 7.4%
• Bile leaks can lead to significant morbidityafter liver trauma.
• Influx of bile into the hematoma may increasethe pressure within it, leading to necrosis ofthe surrounding liver tissue and formation of abiloma
• 2/3rd of patients with blunt abdominal trauma requiring surgery develop bile leaks
• Of those managed conservatively only 17% develop bile leaks.
Management
• Most cases of bile duct injury after blunt trauma present as bilomas which can be managed conservatively.
• Rest can be managed by ERCP
• Bile peritonitis which requires laparotomy and drainage may also be managed by a minimal invasive combination of laparoscopic lavage and ERCP decompression
• Surgery is required only for type D fistulas.
Coming back to our case
• ERCP with stenting was done.
• A bile leak from a lateral rent in CBD was noted.
• A stent was passed across the laceration.
• Patients was successfully managed and discharged 4 days after ERCP.