Published online Jan 16, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i2.389
Peer-review started: June 27, 2020
First decision: July 28, 2020
Revised: August 11, 2020
Accepted: November 21, 2020
Article in press: November 21, 2020
Published online: January 16, 2021
Pancreatic pseudocyst may cause serious gastrointestinal complications including necrosis, infection, and perforation of the gastrointestinal tract wall, but massive gastric bleeding is very rare.
We report a rare case of a 49-year-old man with life-threatening gastric bleeding from a pseudoaneurysm of the splenic artery perforating the stomach induced by pancreatic pseudocyst. During hospitalization, gastroscopy revealed a bare blood vessel in an ulcer-like depression of the greater gastric curvature, and computed tomography scan confirmed a pancreatic pseudocyst invading part of the spleen and gastric wall of the greater curvature. Arteriography showed that the bare blood vessel originated from a pseudoaneurysm of the splenic artery. The bleeding was controlled by the trans-arterial embolization, the patient’s recovery was rapid and uneventful.
Massive gastrointestinal bleeding could be a rare complication of pancreatic pseudo aneurysm.
Core Tip: Massive hemorrhage of the gastrointestinal tract is an infrequent complication of the pancreatic pseudocyst and pseudoaneurysm. We present herein, a novel case of a patient with life-threatening gastric bleeding from a pseudoaneurysm of the splenic artery as a complication of pancreatic pseudocyst perforating into the stomach, with trans-arterial embolization as a potential therapeutic modality for achieving hemostasis.