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Liver and Spleen Injuries and Associated Rib Fractures: An Autopsy Study

Abstract

Nuwadatta Subedi, Yadav BN and Shivendra Jha

Extra thoracic injuries in rib fractures often include intra-abdominal organ injuries, commonly liver and spleen. The study was conducted with an objective to determine the association between rib fractures and liver and spleen injuries among medico legal autopsies with blunt abdominal trauma at the mortuary of tertiary referral centre in eastern Nepal for the period of one year. Among a total of 68 cases studied, male: female ratio was 3.53:1 and the mean age 30.76 ± 5.14 years. The presence of liver injuries was significantly increased in all rib fractures (P value 0.378, OR 1.552) and right sided only or bilateral ribs fractures (P value <0.05, OR 0.33). Spleen injuries are significantly associated with left sided only or bilateral rib fractures (P value <0.05, OR 3.02). A significant difference exists between organ injuries with associated rib fractures compared to those without fracture, implying that the presence of rib fracture is a good indicator of organ injury