Life-threatening postoperative hemorrhage from hepatic artery pseudoaneurysm successfully treated by transcatheter embolization in a 5-year-old

Abstract

Upper gastrointestinal bleeding caused by a pseudoaneurysm after hepatobiliary operation is well described in adults. This can be successfully treated with transcatheter embolization under angiographic guidance. We report a case of massive upper gastrointestinal bleeding in a 5-year-old boy secondary to a pseudoaneurysm of the right hepatic artery after choledochal cyst excision. A coil embolization successfully treated this life-threatening event and spared the child, the morbidity of a challenging gastrointestinal and vascular reconstruction. Use of percutaneous interventional technique to treat this rare complication of choledochal cyst excision has not been previously described in the pediatric surgical literature. Transcatheter embolization of a pseudoaneurysm may be a safe and less morbid treatment alternative for this surgical complication even in the pediatric population.