AN UNUSUAL PRESENTATION OF LIVER LACERATION IN A 13-YEAR-OLD FOOTBALLPLAYER

Abdominal injury occurs infrequently from athletic trauma. vet when it does occur, it can be very serious. Although rupture of a major blood vessel can lead to rapid loss of blood, insidious blood loss can also result from apparently insignificant injury of the spleen, liver, or kidney and lead to delayed problems. Awareness of the potential for su ch injury is vital because outcome can be adversely affected by a low index of suspicion, and this can be compounded by the fact that the in itial physical examination is not always a reliable indicator of the s everity of injury. Classic reports of these injuries describe splenic injury from a left-sided blow and hepatic injury from right-sided trau ma. We present a case report of liver laceration in a young football p layer not only to comment on its unusual mechanism and presentation, b ut also to illustrate the importance of rapid assessment and transport of the athlete with a serious abdominal injury to avoid the consequen ces of delayed diagnosis and treatment.