A Case of Portal Vein Thrombosis after Laparoscopic Surgery for Rectal Cancer

Abstract

Portal vein thrombosis is a very severe and lethal complication, and rarely occurs after operations for colorectal cancer. We report a case of portal vein thrombosis after laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer. A 72-year-old man underwent a low anterior resection for an advanced rectal cancer. Since he had a slight fever on postoperative day 7, he underwent an abdominal contrast enhanced computed tomography scan and he was diagnosed with a portal vein thrombosis. There was no evidence of congestion of the small intestine or liver necrosis. Anticoagulation therapy was started immediately, and the thrombus disappeared on postoperative day 14. This disease was caused by several reasons, such as decreased portal vein flow resulting from increased abodominal pressure and operative position, a hypercoagulable state from having a malignant tumor, and dehydration during the perioperative period. Key words：portal vein thrombosis，rectal cancer，laparoscopic surgery