Although liver lacerations are relatively common following blunt trauma, hepatic artery injuries are rare, with only a few cases of hepatic artery dissection caused by blunt trauma reported to date. Due to its rarity, no standardized treatment protocol exists for managing such injuries. We report the case of a 22-year-old female patient referred with a suspected pancreatic injury and liver laceration following blunt trauma. Upon arrival, she presented severe abdominal pain, and a physical examination revealed significant epigastric tenderness. Emergency laparotomy confirmed pancreatic contusion and liver laceration, for which peritoneal irrigation and wide drainage were performed. On postoperative day 17, hepatic artery dissection was incidentally diagnosed with computed tomography, although the patient remained asymptomatic and laboratory tests were within normal limits. Conservative management with an antiplatelet agent was initiated. A follow-up computed tomography scan performed 4 months post trauma demonstrated complete resolution of hepatic artery dissection.

Purpose
A trauma center project for treating patients with trauma has been established in Korea. A trauma team is activated based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) field triage Step 1 for patient triage. Here, we determined if the currently applied criteria were appropriate for the triage of patients with trauma in Korea.
Methods
This retrospective study included patients who were taken to the regional trauma center from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2019, and were registered in the Korean Trauma database. The rates for undertriage and overtriage were calculated from the in-field and in-hospital triage according to the CDC guidelines Step 1.
Results
Among the 9,383 patients transferred to the trauma center, 3,423 were directly transferred from the site and were investigated. The overall rates for undertriage and overtriage of these patients were 28.13% and 30.35%, respectively. For the patients who received in-field triage and were directly transferred to the trauma center, the rates for undertriage and overtriage were 27.92% and 32.39%, and 25.92% and 29.11% for in-hospital triage, respectively. The concordance rate of triage was 87.09%.
Conclusion
The current use of in-hospital triage physiological criteria as set out in the CDC guidelines Step 1, indicated an undertriage rate which was high and an overtriage rate within the acceptable range. Further studies on triaging patients with trauma are warranted. Improvements in the guidelines of the trauma center project are necessary and this needs to be supported by resources and training for field personnel.

Purpose
Management options for extraperitoneal bladder injury (EBI) associated with pelvic fracture are variable. Predictive factors of operative management (OM) in patients with EBI associated pelvic fracture have not been previously addressed. This study assessed the current epidemiology of blunt traumatic urinary bladder injury and evaluated relevant clinical findings of patients with EBI associated with pelvic fracture who received OM.

Methods
Patients with urinary bladder injury with or without pelvic fracture from blunt trauma from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2019 were identified from the institute trauma registry (n = 12,891). Demographics, mechanism of injury, type of urinary bladder injury, pelvic fracture configuration, and management options were analysed in the study population (n = 9,894).

Results
Of the 1,400 patients who had pelvic and/or acetabular fracture, 32 (2.3%) had urinary bladder injury. Of the 8,494 patients without pelvic and/or acetabular fracture, 12 (0.1%) had nonpelvic fracture urinary bladder injury. The total incidence of urinary bladder injuries in the study population was 0.4% (44/9,894). Patients with EBI associated with pelvic fracture who underwent OM, had a higher frequency of high-grade pelvic injury (100% vs 0%, p = 0.015), concomitant pelvic surgery (75.0% vs 0%, p = 0.001), and non-lateral compression type pelvic fracture (62.5% vs 10.0%, p = 0.043) compared with patients who underwent non-operative management of EBI.

Conclusions
These data suggest that OM may be considered especially in patients with EBI associated with pelvic fracture with high grade pelvic injury, concomitant pelvic surgery, and nonlateral compression type pelvic fracture.

Citations

• Delayed healing of extraperitoneal bladder rupture after open reduction for pelvic fracture: A case report
  Yu-Cheng Pei, Yeong-Chin Jou
  Tungs' Medical Journal.2025; 19(2): 131.     CrossRef

Purpose
Managing patients with hemorrhagic shock is mainly dependent on stopping the bleeding as fast as possible. Emergency Department laparotomy (EDL) is considered one of the approaches to control intra-abdominal bleeding rapidly. This study aims to evaluate the outcomes of EDL in a regional trauma center of Pusan National University Hospital in a 4-year period.
Methods
The medical records and data of patients who underwent EDL from January 2016 to December 2019 were analyzed. Patients who underwent preperitoneal pelvic packing only or did not receive surgery immediately after EDL were excluded.
Results
Twenty-four patients who underwent EDL were included in the study. 18 patients had sustained blunt trauma, and 6 suffered from penetrating injuries. Small bowel mesentery and liver injuries were the most frequent. Increase of median systolic blood pressure (SBP) after EDL was 55.5 mmHg. Four (16.7%) out of the 24 survived; one of the four survivors received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). In the nonsurvivor group, Injury Severity Score was significantly higher (p = 0.013), initial pH was lower (p = 0.035) and the amount of packed red blood cells transfusion after EDL was significantly higher (p = 0.013) than those in the survivor group.
Conclusion
The mortality rate was very high in trauma patients who were required EDL. Although EDL was not proved to be an effective procedure for resuscitation in trauma patients, it could be considered as one of the treatment options for trauma patients in extremis. Further studies are required to examine the effects of EDL.

Explosions in the abdomen during surgery are rare. This article reports a case of an intra-abdominal explosion caused by flammable gas ignited by electrocautery during a laparotomy. The patient’s small intestine, left colon, and peritoneum were burned superficially, but recovered without any specific symptoms. Despite the rarity of this phenomenon, surgeons should be aware of the possibility of an explosion due to intra-abdominal gas, and consider the use a scalpel rather than electrocautery when opening the peritoneum of patients with pneumoperitoneum.

An isolated splanchnic artery injury due to blunt trauma occurs rarely because abdominal vascular injuries are typically associated with injuries to the surrounding abdominal structures, including solid organs or hollow viscus. Of the major abdominal vessels, the celiac artery is the least commonly injured by penetrating or blunt abdominal trauma. Furthermore, a celiac artery dissection due to blunt trauma is rarely reported and there is no clearly defined treatment method, even though endovascular and conservative treatments are accepted widely. On the other hand, endovascular treatment can be challenging if the celiac artery dissection involves its main branch, including the proper hepatic artery, left gastric artery, and splenic artery. This case study presents the treatment experience of a celiac artery dissection involving its main branch following dorsal blunt trauma. Furthermore, conservative treatment is proposed as a treatment option for this rare injury.

Citations

• Conservative Treatment in Two Patients With Spontaneous Hepatic Artery Dissection
  Jun Hyung Bang, Jung Bum Choi, Byoung Chul Lee, Dae Hwan Kim, Hyuk Jae Jung
  Vascular and Endovascular Surgery.2023; 57(1): 60.     CrossRef

We report a case of delayed presentation of small bowel ischemia following minor mesenteric injury after blunt abdominal trauma. Traumatic small bowel and/or mesenteric injury is rare, and minor mesenteric injury is usually managed conservatively. However, mesenteric injury may cause potentially fatal conditions such as hemorrhages or peritonitis in extremely rare cases and require laparotomy. We present a case of small bowel ischemia that occurred 3 days after minor mesenteric injury from blunt abdominal trauma.

Citations

• Delayed Ileal Hemorrhage After Blunt Abdominal Trauma Successfully Managed With Capsule Endoscopy: A Case Report
  Shimpei Asada, Naoki Kawahara, Koji Morishita, Shusuke Mori
  Cureus.2025;[Epub]     CrossRef

Purpose:

A peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) provides effective, reliable intravenous access in patients who require long term therapy such as intravenous antibiotics, total parenteral nutrition, transfusion or inotropic agents. This retrospective study evaluated the usefulness of PICC in trauma patients by examining patient characteristics and common complications, including PICC related bloodstream infection.

Methods:

We reviewed the trauma patients who underwent PICC at Pusan National University Hospital Trauma Center from January 2016 to February 2017.

Results:

From January 2016 to February 2017, 32 patients underwent PICC. Total catheter insertion days were 875 days, and the average catheter indwelling time was 27.3±25.02 days. The most common indication for PICC was total parenteral nutrition (n=20, 62.5%), while the remainder was to ensure a long-term fluid administration route (n=12, 37.5%). Catheter related complications included infection (n=3, 9.4%; 3.42 per 1,000 catheter-days), catheter tip malposition (n=2, 6.3%), catheter dislodgement (n=1, 3.1%), insertion site leakage (n=1, 3.1%) and arm swelling (n=1, 3.1%). No statistically significant differences were found between those who developed bloodstream infection and those who did not.

Conclusion:

If the PICC is performed by correcting adjustable factors that increase the risk of infection, effective and reliable intravenous access can be maintained in patients who require long-term therapy without bleeding, pneumothorax, or other complications of central venous catheter insertion.