Abdominal apoplexy because of the rupture of gastroduodenal artery and inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery: A case report

RATIONALE: Abdominal apoplexy is a rare and fatal emergency event, which is coined as a comparison to the cerebrovascular apoplexy. The exact mechanism of abdominal apoplexy was unclear, but arteriosclerosis, hypertension, abdominal aneurysm, and other predisposing angiopathy were considered to be the main reasons of abdominal apoplexy. The development of the imaging technology gave us more opportunities to confirm the diagnosis of abdominal apoplexy. However, the diagnosis and identification of the bleeding sites still continued to be a challenge. PATIENT CONCERNS: A 55-year-old man presented to the emergency department with chief complains of sudden severe abdominal pain. DIAGNOSIS: The patient was diagnosed as abdominal apoplexy with 2 synchronous bleeding sites. INTERVENTIONS: Angiography confirmed diagnosis of abdominal apoplexy and revealed 2 synchronous bleeding sites in gastroduodenal artery (GDA) and inferior pancreaticoduodenal artery (IPDA). Transcatheter embolization was performed immediately. OUTCOMES: The patient recovered and was discharged very soon. Two months later, the patient totally recovered and the hematoma disappeared in the CT imaging. LESSONS: The reported case is rare, given the very low incidence of abdominal apoplexy with 2 synchronous bleeding sites in GDA and IPDA. The awareness of abdominal apoplexy was still the key point in the management of this disease. Quick diagnosis by the imaging and immediate embolization were very important for the treatment.