Hepatic artery pseudoaneurysm (HAA) is a rare complication of blunt trauma, occurring in only 1% of patients. It is life-threatening with abysmal and atrocious outcomes if not recognized early and managed promptly. Other etiologies include transjugular-intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS), pancreatitis, cholecystectomy, and liver transplantation. We report a near-miss case in a 38-year-old woman following a motor vehicle accident. She sustained Grade III/IV liver laceration (>50% subcapsular hematoma), presenting with upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB). Our patient was managed emergently intra-operatively, with hemostasis promptly achieved; however, she continued to bleed postoperatively, becoming hemodynamically unstable and unresponsive to both massive blood transfusions and high-dose proton pump inhibitors. Further imaging demonstrated HAA for which coil embolization was carried out by interventional radiology (IR).
Keywords: blunt vascular trauma; common hepatic artery pseudoaneurysm; hepatic trauma; right hepatic artery pseudoaneurysm; upper gastrointestinal (ugi) bleeding.
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