Traumatologie et soins aigus Libre accès

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Delayed Spontaneous Retroperitoneal Haematoma after Unilateral Total Hip Replacement

Ana Torres Pérez, Julio Duart Clemente, Javier del Río Alonso, Matías Alfonso Olmos, Alvaro Silva González, Carlos Villas Tome

We present the case of a 59 year-old woman who developed a major spontaneous retroperitoneal haematoma after performing a unilateral total hip arthroplasty. We reviewed the literature to see that a retroperitoneal haematoma is a rare event which can potentially be life-threatening. In our patient the abdominal pain instead of being acute, as it happens on the majority of retroperitoneal haematomas, it started at day five postop associated to a sensation of abdominal fullness. An urgent CT was ordered to achieve de diagnose and a selective angiographic embolization was employed to stop the bleeding. Even if a total hip arthroplasty is a safe procedure, we need to be alert on operated patients with abdominal pain after the surgery and perform a careful evaluation.