title: [Massive rectal blood loss after colonoscopy].
abstract: A 70-year-old man presented with acute lower gastrointestinal bleeding. A colonoscopy performed one and a half months prior had revealed diverticulosis in the sigmoid colon; a small polyp located 10 cm from the anal margin had been removed at that time. The presenting patient was haemodynamically unstable and there was a significant amount of rectal blood loss. Gastroscopy revealed no abnormalities. During angiography, the patient died as a result of haemorrhagic shock. The post-mortem examination revealed a rectal perforation, which had most likely resulted from the polypectomy, and a secondary haematoma located between the common iliac artery and the rectum. The source of the gastrointestinal bleeding was the rupture of the haematoma directly into the rectal perforation. Colonoscopy is a relatively safe procedure; however, this case illustrates that potentially lethal complications from colonoscopy can be expressed, even after a few months.
authors: Jeroen Bosch Ziekenhuis, Den Bosch, Afd. Maag-, Darm- en Leverziekten, the Netherlands. m.kampschreur@jbz.nl
authors: M T Milou
authors: MT
authors: Kampschreur
authors: Gursah
authors: G
authors: Kats-Ugurlu
authors: Robert Jan
authors: RJ
authors: van Suylen
authors: Anneke M P
authors: AM
authors: De Schryver
mesh_terms: D003113:Colonoscopy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012007:Rectum / Q000293:injuries*