title: Management of a rare case of fulminant hemobilia due to arteriobiliary fistula following total pancreatectomy.
abstract: Hemobilia is a rare cause of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding and is often associated with a history of hepatic or biliary tract injury, tumor growth, hepatic artery aneurysm, cholecystitis, or hepatic abscess. We report a case of a 76-year-old patient with massive hemobilia due to intrahepatic bleeding from the segment 8 hepatic artery without evidence of a true aneurysm, abscess, or metastatic disease 4 weeks following pylorus-preserving total pancreatectomy for pancreatic cancer. Gastroduodenoscopy suggested hemorrhage from the duodenojejunostomy but failed to achieve hemostasis, and the patient underwent exploratory laparotomy. It was realized intraoperatively that the bleeding originated from the intrahepatic biliary tract. Bleeding was controlled by blocking the right hepatic bile duct with a Fogarty catheter and subsequent transarterial embolization. Computed tomography did not reveal any local liver or vascular pathology. Retrospectively, the cause of delayed profuse hemobilia was most likely a traumatic intrahepatic pseudoaneurysm following endoscopic bile duct stenting 3 weeks before the pancreatectomy. The reported case is exceptional and of particular interest because of the absence of a typical history or cause of hemobilia, preoperative misleading diagnostic results in an altered anatomic situation, and the operative management to achieve bleeding control in this emergency setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 110, Heidelberg 69120, Germany.
authors.forename: Thilo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Welsch
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hallscheidt
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Hans J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Steinhardt
authors.forename: Markus W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Büchler
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sido
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D001653:Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic / Q000293:injuries / Q000601:surgery; D001658:Biliary Fistula / Q000150:complications*; D004621:Embolization, Therapeutic / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006431:Hemobilia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D006499:Hepatic Artery / Q000293:injuries / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007813:Laparotomy / Q000379:methods*; D010180:Pancreatectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016157:Vascular Fistula / Q000150:complications*