Vascular emergencies in liver trauma

The use of CT in the diagnosis and management of liver trauma is responsible for the shift from routine surgical versus non-surgical treatment in the management of traumatic liver injuries, even when they are of high grade. The main cause of complication and of death in liver trauma is related to vascular injury. The goal of this review focussed on the vascular complications of liver trauma is to describe the elementary lesions shown by CT in liver trauma including laceration, parenchymal hematoma and contusions, partial devascularisation, subcapsular hematomas, hemoperitoneum, active bleeding, pseudoaneurysm of the hepatic artery, bile leak, and periportal oedema, to illustrate the possible pitfalls in CT diagnosis of liver trauma and to underline the key-points which may absolutely be present in a CT report of liver trauma. Then we will remind the grading system based on the CT features and we will analyze the interest and limitations of such grading systems. Last we will discuss the diagnostic strategy at the early phase in patients with suspected liver trauma according to their clinical conditions and underline the conditions of arterial embolization, and then we will discuss the diagnosis strategy at the delayed phase according to the suspected complications. (c) 2007 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.