Failed pelvic arterial embolization for postpartum hemorrhage: clinical outcomes and predictive factors.

PURPOSE: To evaluate clinical outcomes of failed pelvic arterial embolization (PAE) and determine predictive factors associated with this failure in the treatment of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study included all consecutive patients who underwent PAE for life-threatening PPH between March 2004 and January 2011 at a tertiary-care center. Medical records and imaging studies were reviewed to identify cases of failed PAE and their clinical outcomes. Multiple parameters were compared between the failed and successful PAE groups, and multivariate analysis was performed to determine the predictive factors associated with failed PAE. RESULTS: PAE was performed in 257 patients (mean age, 32 y; range, 20-40 y). A total of 24 cases of PAE involved a failure to achieve hemostasis (9.3%). Patients in the failed PAE group experienced more major complications than those in the successful PAE group (37.5% [nine of 24] vs 9.4% [22 of 233]). Factors more frequently found in failed PAE included hemodynamic instability, hemoglobin level lower than 8g/dL, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), and extravasation detected on angiography. After multivariate analysis, DIC emerged as the only significant predictive factor (odds ratio, 6.569; 95% confidence interval, 1.602-26.932; P = .009). CONCLUSIONS: PAE is an effective treatment for medically intractable PPH. However, PAE failed in a high percentage of patients and was commonly associated with major complications. DIC was the only significant predictor of failed PAE.

Inaccessible postoperative abdominal abscess: percutaneous drainage technique with puncture of a sinus tract.

The present report describes percutaneous drainage involving puncture of a sinus tract in 14 patients with inaccessible postoperative abdominal abscesses. In eight patients, a sinus tract formed by a previously placed surgical drain was percutaneously punctured under ultrasound guidance. In six patients, a sinus tract was accessed under fluoroscopic guidance, aiming at an indwelling surgical drain. A drainage catheter was successfully placed into the abscesses in 13 patients (92.9%). Complete resolution of abscesses was documented on follow-up computed tomography. Percutaneous drainage with puncture of a sinus tract may be a feasible and effective treatment for inaccessible postoperative abdominal abscesses.

Extraskeletal osteochondroma of the buttock.

Osteochondromas are common and typically arise from the metaphyseal ends of long bones. An osteochondral neoplasm of the soft tissue, which is a lesion of uncertain pathogenesis, is uncommon and usually arises from the synovial tissue in joints and tendon sheaths. Rarely, extraskeletal osteochondromas also arise outside of synovial compartments. Most of the reported cases were presented in the hands and feet, especially in the fingers. Here we describe a 44-yr-old female patient who presented with a pain in the left buttock. A well-defined osseous mass was detected in the buttock. It consisted of sharply demarcated, mature hyaline cartilage that was covered with a fibrous capsule, which changed gradually into cancellous bone, more pronouncedly at the center. The diagnosis of an extraskeletal osteochondroma should be considered when a discrete, ossified mass is localized in the soft tissues. A case of pathologically proven extraskeletal osteochondroma of the buttock is presented with a literature review, magnetic resonance imaging, and radiological findings.