Spontaneous Intraperitoneal Hemorrhage in a Cervical Spinal Cord Injured Patient with Warfarin Therapy: A Case Report

ABSTRACT

Spontaneous intraperitoneal hemorrhage in the patient who has cervical spinal cord injury and been treated by warfarin, is rarely reported. In general, adverse drug reactions of warfarin were reported as bleeding, cutaneous microvascular thrombosis. A 46-year-old C4 tetraplegia (ASIA A) patient had been treated by warfarin for a treatment and prevention of pulmonary embolism after cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Suddenly, the patient complained dyspnea and abdominal distension and we noticed that his hemoglobin count was very much lower than usual. So, we had the patient to take the abdominal CT and find out there was a bleeding in intraperitoneal area. We did angiography trying to find out the bleeding focus but in vain. We concluded that it was the spontaneous intraperitoneal hemorrhage due to warfarin therapy and we finally made an improvement with the conservative treatment.