Only a small percentage of patients with pelvic fractures require embolization, but when it is used, embolization can be 100% effective. Age, time to achieve embolization, and initial hemodynamic instability appear to be important factors in survival.

We report on a patient with left upper quadrant pain as a result of splenic infarction; the patient was subsequently found to have a thoracoabdominal aortic thrombus extending through the celiac axis. The patient was successfully treated with an aortic thrombectomy guided by intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography.