Post-traumatic hepatic dysfunction as a major etiology in post-traumatic jaundice

Thirty-eight patients who had sustained acute trauma, profound hemorrhagic shock, and massive transfusion were studied prospectively to determine the predominant etiologic factors in the development of post-traumatic jaundice. An analysis of clinical and biochemical factors occurring in association with each bilirubin peak in the postoperative course found the jaundice related to transfusion and surgery in 11 instances, to sepsis and septicemia in 15 instances, and to hepatic dysfunction in 23 instances. Results indicated that admission estimates of SGOT and LDH levels, the height of the bilirubin peak and the postoperative day on which it occurs, and the white cell count and GGT at the time of the peak may be of use in the differential diagnosis. Four case reports were used to emphasize the fluctuating pattern of jaundice and the different etiologic factors that may predominate. Light and electron microscopy from three patients illustrated the structural alterations that accompany the biochemical impairment of liver function and enable a more precise appreciation of this syndrome. Hepatic dysfunction appears to be implicated in a high proportion of patients who develop post-traumatic jaundice, which frequently occurs as part of a spectrum of multiple organ failure.