Acute Thrombosis of an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Followed by Direct Abdominal Trauma: A Case Report

ABSTRACT

An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a regional dilatation diameter of greater than 3 cm of the abdominal aorta. Clinical manifestations include abdominal pain with a pulsatile mass, back and/or leg pain; however, AAA is typically asymptomatic. A ruptured AAA can result in severe abdominal pain, back pain, and hypovolemic shock, and may result in eventual death. Cases of ruptured AAAs have been reported frequently and are typically encountered in emergency departments. However, acute occlusion of AAA is an uncommon vascular emergency with a high mortality rate. We encountered a patient with sudden-onset abdominal and back pain, coldness, paresthesia, and loss of motor function in both lower extremities after experiencing sustained abdominal compression for 3 minutes. Despite rapid diagnosis and treatment, the patient died 2 days post-operation due to reperfusion injury. This report discusses the rare occurrence of an acute occlusion of AAA due to thrombosis; our aim is to increase awareness of this diagnosis in emergency departments.