Reconstruction of a total avulsion of the hepatic veins and the suprahepatic inferior vena cava secondary to blunt thoracoabdominal trauma.

INTRODUCTION

Blunt injury to the inferior vena cava is a rare but dramatic event having a high mortality up to 80%. The mortality increases after total avulsion especially in combination with secondary intra-abdominal injuries.

CASE REPORT

We report on a 15-year-old boy who sustained a blunt trauma with a total, partially covered avulsion of the hepatic veins and the suprahepatic inferior vena cava.

DISCUSSION

We treated the patient under internal bypassing of the retrohepatic vena cava by using the heart-lung machine and reconstructed the hepatic veins and suprahepatic vena cava with a conduit made of pericard.