What happens if you lacerate your liver

The signs and symptoms of an injured liver include abdominal pain, guarding holding hand over the area , tenderness in the upper right part of the abdomen, right shoulder pain and signs of shock and blood loss. This can be a major life-threatening event. Diagnosis is made by CT scan. Contact Us Refer a Patient. The results of this blood test should be expected to drop within the first 24 hours and then begin to resolve. Your child will be on complete bedrest for hours with the hemoglobin and hematocrit tested every 6 to 12 hours.

Sometimes liver injuries heal without treatment. However, people must be hospitalized and watched closely to ensure that bleeding does not worsen. Sometimes doctors give blood transfusions Blood Transfusion read more.

If the bleeding worsens or does not stop fairly quickly, doctors often first try to seal off the bleeding vessels without surgery. To seal the vessels, doctors pass a thin plastic catheter into the blood vessels in the groin and then up to the liver.

Then they inject substances to seal the vessels. If this procedure does not stop the bleeding, surgery is usually done. Also, if bleeding was very severe from the beginning, surgery is usually done as soon as possible because in such cases sealing off blood vessels without surgery is rarely effective.

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Common Health Topics. Abdominal Injuries. If these test results show that bleeding has increased, the patient may need an operation. Vital signs such as blood pressure and heart rate are monitored closely.

During treatment, patients should remain in bed until the tests show bleeding has stopped. Unless injury is severe patients should recover with no after effects. A follow-up appointment should be made weeks after discharge from the hospital.