Enterorrhagia due to pelvic hematoma after femoral catheterization

Abstract

Arterial puncture, better known as catheterization, has become an important diagnostic tool in recent years. For its realization, generally the option is the Seldinger technique, which is considered today the safest and most often used procedure. This technique allows the insertion of large-caliber or multiple-lumen catheters in the vessel. Arterial catheterization helps in several exams, for instance, mesenteric angiography and cardiac output assessment, and contributes in cineangiocoronariography procedures. We report the case of a 67-year-old male patient who was submitted to cineangiocoronariography and evolved with enterorrhagia due to pelvic hematoma. Throughout the patient's care, a conservative treatment was chosen. The progression of the patient was uneventful and then the patient was discharged. It is very hard to determine which arterial segment was injured; however, as the hematoma was located predominantly in the pelvic region, it is believed that an injury occurred at the internal iliac artery, or directly at the bifurcation of the common iliac artery. Furthermore, it is assumed that a catheter kinking occurred during its progression, due to any tortuosity or to the presence of an atheromatous plaque, thus favoring the occurrence of the more distal lesion, rather than the proximal one. We decided to report this case because of its high degree of rarity, with a scarce number of papers in the literature related to the topic. Thus, with the description of this report we believe that other medical teams will have facilitated their decision-making process, when facing a similar case.