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
Processing time: 195 Days and 3.3 Hours
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.