IMPORTANT: We currently have a number of bugs related to image cropping and are actively trying to resolve them. In the meantime, we have disabled cropping. Apologies for any inconvenience. Stay informed: radiopaedia.org/chat

Massive spontaneous retroperitoneal hemorrhage

Case contributed by Paul Clarke
Diagnosis certain

Presentation

Acute abdominal pain and hypovolemic shock while an inpatient at her local hospital for management of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis and atrial fibrillation (AF) for which she was commenced on therapeutic clexane

Patient Data

Age: 70 years
Gender: Female

Abdominal CT angiogram demonstrates a massive retroperitoneal hematoma measuring 183 x 221 x 350 mm and multiple sites of contrast blushes indicating active bleeding. 

Angiography & Onyx embo

dsa

Interventional angiogram identified her primary bleeding source from the left circumflex iliac artery a branch of the external iliac artery and also to a lesser degree from the left L4 and L5 lumbar arteries.

Case Discussion

The patient was emergently transferred to a tertiary center for endovascular embolization. Endovascular angiography revealed the above primary bleeding sources. Each artery received Onyx embolization. Immediate post embolization images showed satisfactory control however her time in ICU continued to be turbulent with dependency on vasoactive medications and continued transfusion of blood products. Repeat abdominal CT angiogram confirmed an increase in the size of her retroperitoneal hematoma. The patient continued to deteriorate falling into multiorgan dysfunction syndrome thought to be contributed by abdominal compartment syndrome. An emergency midline laparotomy was performed. The massive hematoma was evacuated with a rough calculated volume of 10 L. No active arterial bleeding was identified, perhaps from the massive hematoma achieving tamponade. Fortunately, the patient made a full recovery.

How to use cases

You can use Radiopaedia cases in a variety of ways to help you learn and teach.

Creating your own cases is easy.

Updating… Please wait.

 Unable to process the form. Check for errors and try again.

 Thank you for updating your details.