We report the case of a young trauma patient who needed tight perihepatic surgical packing to control bleeding from a ruptured liver. He developed severe cardiovascular and respiratory decompensation on removal of the surgical packs as a result of the post-reperfusion syndrome. He underwent a total hepatectomy and, 35 h later, orthotopic liver transplantation. The pathophysiology of post-reperfusion syndrome is discussed, and its importance to anaesthetists in the non-transplant setting is emphasized.