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Citation: Gabbi L, Petrocelli F, Di Domenico S, Ferrero S, Remorgida V (2014)
Conservative Management of Uterine Artery Pseudoaneurysm Rupture with Rectal
Fistula after Laparoscopic Myomectomy and Review of the Literature. Gynecol Cases
Rev 1:019
Received: November 17, 2014: Accepted: December 14, 2014: Published: December
17, 2014
Copyright: © 2014 Gabbi L. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of
the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Gabbi et al. Obstet Gynecol cases Rev 2014, 1:3
ISSN: 2377-9004
Conservative Management of Uterine Artery Pseudoaneurysm Rupture
with Rectal Fistula after Laparoscopic Myomectomy and Review of the
Literature
Gabbi L
1
, Petrocelli F
2
, Di Domenico S
3
, Ferrero S
1
and RemorgidaV
1
1
Department of Obstetric and Gynaecology, IRCCS San Martino-IST and University of Genoa, Italy
2
Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, IRCCS San Martino-IST and University of Genoa, Italy
3
Department of General Surgery, IRCCS San Martino-IST and University of Genoa, Italy
*Corresponding author: Laura Gabbi MD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, IRCCS San Martino-IST
and University of Genoa, L.go Rosanna Benzi, 1 Pad 1 16131 Genova, Italy, Tel: 0105557723; Fax: 0105556714;
E-mail: gabbi2@libero.it
diference with true aneurysm. Te incidence of pseudoaneurysm
formation is not well known because it can be silent, the delay of
symptoms if rupture occurs [1] and the diagnosis is not easy. Tis
event can be life-threatening if rupture happens. Isono [2] found that
the interval between surgery and pseudoaneurysm rupture can vary
between 3 to 60 days.
Te main symptoms of rupture are methrorrhagia, abdominal
pain and anemia. Diagnosis can be made with Ultrasonography (US),
Color Doppler Ultrasonography (CDUS), Computer Tomography
(CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and angiography. Te
gold standard for treatment is transfemoral angiography with
concomitant embolisation. We report a case of pseudoaneurysm
rupture associated with bleeding from the rectum and conservative
management along with a review of literature. A PubMed
search of English literature was performed using: “uterine artery
pseudoaneurysm” and “uterine artery pseudoaneurysm and rectal
bleeding” .We found 106 articles, 105 for the frst search and only one
for the second. Te latter refers to a case of locally advanced cervical
[3]. In our knowledge our case should be the frst of a ruptured UAP,
afer laparoscopic myomectomy, associated with proctorrhagia.
Case Report
A 43 years old nulliparous woman with sudden abdominal
pain associated with rectal bleeding came to our attention in April
2013. A gasless laparoscopic myomectomy had been performed
one month before (in another hospital) for the removal of an 8
cm intramural leyomioma, located on the posterior wall, causing
severe methrorrhagia. Although procthorrhagia was not massive her
hemoglobin concentration at admission was 10,4g/l, dropping to
8,4g/l afer 3 hours. Leucocytosis was also present. She immediately
underwent a CT scan showing the presence of a dyshomogenous
mass behind the uterus of 10x7x8cm with a central hypodensepart
Abstract
Late uterine hemorrhage caused by uterine artery pseudoaneurysm
is a rare but life-threatening complication after uterine surgery. The
association of uterine pseudoanerysm rupture causing rectal fstula
has not been reported in literature as well as its management.
Herein we report a case of massive late uterine bleeding and rectal
bleeding after laparoscopic myomectomy.
A 43 year old Caucasian nulliparous woman underwent laparoscopic
excision of 8 cm posterior intramural myoma. One month later she
developed acute abdominal pain and proctorrhagia. A Computer
Tomography scan (CT) demonstrated a 10 cm pelvic hematoma.
The transvaginal ultrasound (TVU) showed 1 cm aneurism of the
uterine artery. Transarterial angiography confrmed the ruptured
uterine artery pseudoaneurysm that was successfully embolized.
Repeated colonoscopy showed a rectal fstula. Total parenteral
nutrition (TPN) and antibiotic prophylaxis were started. During
the following month the intensity and frequency of proctorrhagia
gradually declined. After four week of TPN colonoscopy confrmed
a complete fstula healing. Oral feeding was gradually reintroduced.
Two months later an ultrasound scan showed a complete resolution
of the pelvic hematoma. To the best of our knowledge this the frst
described association of two rare complications: a pseudoaneurysm
rupture and the subsequent rectal laceration successfully treated
with embolization and conservative management.
Keywords
Uterine artery pseudoaneurysm, Rectal bleeding, Rectal fstula,
Myomectomy
Introduction
Pseudoaneurysm of uterine artery (UAP) is a rare complication
afer gynecological, obstetric and pelvic surgery. Pseudoaneurysm is
characterized by the absence of the three layers in its boundaries and
by the presence of a peripheral thrombus [1] and this is the main