Post partum ovarian vein thrombosis presenting with left loin pain – A case report

Abstract

Postpartum ovarian vein thrombosis (POVT) is an uncommon but serious complication. Clinically it is a difficultly diagnosed entity, must be thought of as differential diagnosis in cases of postpartum acute abdomen. POVT may cause serious complications like sepsis, pulmonary embolism, thrombosis of the inferior vena cava and renal veins, and may cause death. It is often clinically indistinguishable from other causes of post partum acute pain. Most of the cases present as right loin and right iliac fossa pain, within initial 10 days of the puerperal period. This report presents a case of left ovarian vein thrombosis complicated by renal vein thrombosis presenting as left ureteric colic. The imaging findings illustrate the difficulty in clinical and radiological diagnosis of post-partum ovarian vein thrombosis, and thus highlight the need to include it as one of the differential diagnosis in such cases of post partum acute abdomen. Anti-coagulants and intravenous antibiotics remain the mainstay of treatment. Non-invasive investigations help in accurate diagnosis of POVT and a surgery can be avoided.