Hepatoportal Venous Trauma: Analysis of Incidence, Morbidity, and Mortality

Although traumatic injuries to the superior mesenteric vein (SMV), portal vein (PV), and hepatic vein (HV) are rare, their impact is significant. Small single center reports estimate mortality rates ranging from 29% to 100%. Our aim is to elucidate the incidence and outcomes associated with each injury due to unique anatomic positioning and varied tolerance of ligation. We hypothesize that SMV injury is associated with a lower risk of mortality compared to HV and PV injury in adult trauma patients.

The Trauma Quality Improvement Program database (2010-2016) was queried for patients with injury to either the SMV, PV, or HV. A multivariable logistic regression model was used for analysis.

From 1,403,466 patients, 966 (0.07%) had a single major hepatoportal venous injury with 460 (47.6%) involving the SMV, 281 (29.1%) involving the PV, and 225 (23.3%) involving the HV. There was no difference in the percentage of patients undergoing repair or ligation between SMV, PV, and HV injuries (P > .05). Compared to those with PV and HV injuries, patients with SMV injury had a higher rate of concurrent bowel resection (38.5% vs 12.1% vs 7.6%, P < .001) and lower mortality (33.3% vs 45.9% vs 49.3%, P < .01). After controlling for covariates, traumatic SMV injury increased the risk of mortality (odds ratio [OR] 1.59, confidence interval [CI] = 1.00-2.54, P = .05) in adult trauma patients; however, this was less than PV injury (OR = 2.77, CI = 1.56-4.93, P = .001) and HV injury (OR = 2.70, CI = 1.46-4.99, P = .002).

Traumatic SMV injury had a lower rate of mortality compared to injuries of the HV and PV. SMV injury increased the risk of mortality by 60% in adult trauma patients, whereas PV and HV injuries nearly tripled the risk of mortality.