Spontaneous intraperitoneal haemorrhage from short gastric artery avulsion secondary to forceful retching

Abstract

Spontaneous intraperitoneal haemorrhage can occur in any age group. It is defined as presence of free blood in the peritoneal cavity which can results from a nontraumatic and non-iatrogenic cause. Common causes are visceral, coagulopathy related and vascular. The clinical presentation is usually non-specific; it can vary from mild abdominal pain to a shock status. We report a very rare case of a 17-year-old male patient who presented to our institution with spontaneous intraperitoneal bleeding secondary to avulsion of one of the short gastric artery following forceful retching.