A Case of Retroperitoneal Hematoma of Unknown Cause

Naoto Suzuki, Kentaro Nakao, Kazuhiro Narita, Katsuo Yamazaki, Hirotaka Tanaka, Kazuhiro Matsuda, Akira Tsunoda and Mitsuo Kusano

Department of General and Gastroenterological Surgery, Showa University School of Medicine

A 61-year-old woman complained of the sudden onset of abdominal pain. An Abdominal CT scan showed a hematoma extendly from the duodenum to the bifurcation of the common iliac artery in the retroperitoneal space. Laparotomy revealed a hematoma in right retroperitoneal cavity. Since the patient's vital signs were stable and the hematoma was non-expanding, we did not enter the retroperitoneal space. The bleeding source was not identified not intraoperatively or by postoperative 3D-CT angiography. Stricture of the duodenum was diagnosed on postoperative day 10, and effectively treated conservatively. There have been no hemorrhagic episodes since the patient was discharged. If there retropritoneal disease of unknown cause is seen in a patient, the presence of retroperitoneal hematoma should be considered as a possible cause, although it is rare.

Key words
retroperitoneal hematoma

Reprint requests
Naoto Suzuki Department of General and Gastroenterological Surgery, Showa University School of Medicine
1-5-8 Hatanodai,Shinagawa-ku, 142-8666 JAPAN

Accepted
September 28, 2005

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