Hemobilia as a rare condition after Whipple procedure. A case report

Abstract

Background: Hemobilia in general is a rare condition and can occur as a complication after intra-arterial hepatic chemoradiation therapy. Methods: We report on a 73 year old male who underwent a pancreatic head resection for therapy of distal bile duct cancer. Results: Eight days postoperatively the patient presented with an upper GI hemorrhage. The cause of the hemorrhage seemed to be bleeding from inside the bile duct itself. No bleeding from the anastomoses could be determined in an esophagogastroduodenoscopy. The CT scan then showed a rare condition of a hepatic arteriobiliary fistula being the cause of blood loss. Conclusion: We report sucessfully performing a coil embolization of a segmental hepatic arteria. Subsequently no further bleeding occured.