title: Transcatheter arterial embolization of spontaneous rectus sheath haematoma in a Chinese woman.
abstract: Spontaneous extraperitoneal haemorrhage is a rare but well-described complication of anticoagulation therapy. We report a case of spontaneous rectus sheath haematoma in a 69-year-old Chinese woman who had received low-molecular-weight heparin for pulmonary embolism. She presented with sudden onset of lower abdominal pain, hypotension and a tender lower abdominal mass after 1 week of anticoagulation therapy. Computed tomography revealed a huge right rectus sheath haematoma extending into the pelvis, and angiography demonstrated active contrast extravasation from the right inferior epigastric artery. Arterial embolization with Gelfoam was performed and succeeded in stopping the bleeding. Transcatheter arterial embolization can be an effective and safe modality to localize and treat the bleeder in spontaneous extraperitoneal haematoma for high-risk patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR.
authors.forename: Joseph Hon-Ming
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Simon Siu-Man
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Simon Sze-Ming
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Janet Fung-Yee
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004621:Embolization, Therapeutic / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005781:Gelatin Sponge, Absorbable / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006406:Hematoma / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D017568:Rectus Abdominis / Q000098:blood supply*