Diagnosis and Management of Iatrogenic Hemobilia Secondary to Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt Procedure

A patient with end-stage liver disease and subsequent refractory ascites was treated with a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) procedure. The procedure was complicated by massive gastrointestinal hemorrhage with associated rettorragia. Computed tomography angiography (CT-A) was performed and revealed haemobilia due to an artero-biliary fistula between the right hepatic artery and an intrahepatic biliary branch. The patient underwent an attempt at percutaneous embolization. Bleeding was successfully stopped by the embolization of the fistula with coils. Hemobilia is a rare cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding with an increasing incidence due to the widespread use of invasive hepatobiliary procedures. Hemobilia is an uncommon complication of TIPS procedures. Nowadays, transcatheter embolization is the gold standard in the management of hemobilia.