ABSTRACT
Portal hypertension often leads to the development of several collateral vessels that shunt blood flow from the portal to the systemic circulation. The rupture of intra-abdominal varix is an unusual complication of portal hypertension that can lead to life-threatening hemoperitoneum. If the patient is hemodynamically unstable due to massive intra-abdominal bleeding, exploratory laparotomy should be performed on the patient. There are several reported cases of intra-abdominal variceal bleeding such as paraumbilical varix, the varix from the small intestine and proximal colon etc. Spontaneous hemoperitoneum caused by the rupture of gastroepiploic vein varix, however, has not been reported in Korea, to the best of our knowledge. We will discuss a patient with portal hypertension due to liver cirrhosis who presented with acute intra-abdominal bleeding. During the laparotomy, he was found to have a rupture of the gastroepiploic vein. The vessel was ligated, and the patient recovered uneventfully by operative variceal ligation.
