Abdominal pain and vomiting in a patient with over-anticoagulation--a rare case of spontaneous intramural hematoma of the jejunum

Abstract

Anticoagulants, including vitamin K antagonists, are widely used for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes. Bleeding is the most important complication of anticoagulant therapy due to over-anticoagulation. Over-anticoagulation may present in unusual ways, such as spontaneous intramural hematoma of the small bowel. The classical clinical picture consists of abdominal pain, small bowel obstruction (that can present as vomiting) and hemorrhagic symptoms that can be related to the bowel or other parts of the body. Radiological examinations are essential for the diagnosis. Ultrasound can be helpful in the diagnostic process, but computed tomography is the procedure of choice. Conservative treatment is usually successful, including procedures that stop the over-anticoagulant consequences. A surgical approach is reserved for complications such as necrosis or perforation of the bowel. The diagnosis is definitively confirmed by the spontaneous resolution of the pathological findings on a follow-up computed tomography scan. We present a case of a 72-year-old woman who was diagnosed with this rare condition affecting the jejunum in the emergency department in our hospital.