Prognostic Factors of Mortality and Clinical Characteristics of Patients Surgically Treated for Blunt Liver Injury-A Single-Center Experience.

Background

Blunt liver traumatic injuries are associated with high mortality and remain a significant challenge for modern healthcare systems. The aim of this study was to identify early clinical predictors of mortality in patients undergoing surgery for blunt liver injury. Material and

Methods

A single-centre, retrospective observational study was conducted involving 27 adult patients who underwent surgery between 2013 and 2025 due to blunt liver injury (traffic accidents, falls from height). Clinical parameters such as GCS and shock index (SI) were correlated with the degree of injury according to the AAST OIS and WSES classifications and with the length of hospitalisation (LOS) using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. The study was approved by the Bioethics Committee (resolution number: RNN/86/25/KE).

Results

Traffic accident victims predominated in the analysed group (81.5%). Deep consciousness disorders (GCS; ρ = -0.65) were shown to be the strongest negative predictor of survival-all deaths occurred in patients with a baseline GCS = 3. A strong positive correlation was also observed between the risk of death and the anatomical level of injury according to the AAST OIS (ρ = 0.70) and shock assessed using the SI (ρ = 0.50). Half of the patients who underwent surgery received packing (tamponade), while 51.8% underwent splenectomy.

Conclusions

The GCS is the strongest independent clinical predictor of death in this group. Simple neurological and haemodynamic assessment is more useful in practice for quickly identifying critically ill patients than complex anatomical classifications such as AAST or WSES.