Spontaneous Breast Haematoma after Heparin Anticoagulation

Imran Gani; Rajan Kapoor; Muhammad Saeed

doi:10.12890/2020_001735

Spontaneous Breast Haematoma after Heparin Anticoagulation

Eur J Case Rep Intern Med. 2020 Jun 11;7(9):001735. doi: 10.12890/2020_001735. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Imran Gani¹, Rajan Kapoor¹, Muhammad Saeed²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nephrology, Hypertension and Transplant Medicine, Augusta University Medical Center, Augusta, GA, USA.
² Department of Transplant Surgery, Augusta University Medical Center, Augusta, GA, USA.

Abstract

Heparin is commonly used in clinical practice for the prevention and treatment of various thrombotic conditions. Its use can be associated with bleeding which can range from minor to life threatening. Non-traumatic causes of breast haematoma are very rare. We report a case of spontaneous bleeding into the breast in a female patient who was anticoagulated with heparin.

Learning points: Anticoagulant use can be associated with the adverse effect of bleeding at various sites.Physicians should be cautious of such bleeding which can occur at unsuspected sites.Our patient developed spontaneous breast haematoma after unfractionated heparin anticoagulation, and was successfully managed with cessation of anticoagulation, protamine, desmopressin and blood transfusion.

Keywords: Thrombosis; anticoagulation; breast haematoma; heparin.