2012 Volume 37 Issue 1 Pages 124-129
A 59-year-old man had been under treatment chronic hepatitis C and cirrhosis, and was later diagnosed as having hepatic tumors. Three hepatocarcinomas were identified, and minimal resection was performed. After the operation, the patient developed repeated episodes of intraperitoneal bleeding due to decreased coagulability of the blood and reduced platelet counts, which necessitated transfusion of fresh frozen plasma and platelets. While hemostasis was achieved shortly after each transfusion, the intraperitoneal bleeding recurred as the platelet count decreased over time. Partial splenic embolization (PSE) was performed, under the expectation that adequate hemostasis would be achieved as a result of improvement, following the procedure, of the thrombocytopenia associated with splenic hyperfunction. No recurrence of the intraperitoneal bleeding was noted thereafter. There are few reports of effective treatments against postoperative intraperitoneal bleeding caused by thrombocytopenia associated with splenic hyperfunction. We present a case of postoperative intraperitoneal bleeding which was successfully controlled by PSE.
