Hepatic Artery Aneurysm in the Setting of Acute Pancreatitis and Giant Cell Arteritis

Visceral artery aneurysms are rare with an incidence of 0.1%-0.2%. Of these, 20% are hepatic artery aneurysms (HAAs). Despite the potential of remaining asymptomatic for long periods of time, the risk of rupture for HAAs is 20%-80%. Treatment includes operative management with open or endovascular techniques. HAA in the setting of pancreatitis has been reported in two prior cases outside of the United States. However, there have been no cases describing the association of HAA and giant cell arteritis (GCA). We present a rare case of an 80-year-old male with a history of GCA who was found to have developed HAA following an episode of acute pancreatitis that was repaired surgically with an open technique. To our knowledge, the association between HAA with acute pancreatitis and GCA has not been reported before.

Occult bowel injury after blunt abdominal trauma

BACKGROUND

Following blunt abdominal trauma, bowel injuries are often missed on admission computed tomography (CT) scan.

METHODS

Multicenter retrospective analysis of 176 adults with moderate-critical blunt abdominal trauma and admission CT scan who underwent operative exploration. Patients with a bowel injury missed on CT (n = 36, 20%) were compared to all other patients (n = 140, 80%).

RESULTS

The missed injury group had greater incidence free fluid without solid organ injury on CT scan (44% vs. 25%, p = 0.038) and visceral adhesions (28% vs. 6%, p = 0.001). Independent predictors of missed bowel injury included prior abdominal inflammation (OR 3.74, 95% CI 1.37-10.18), CT evidence of free fluid in the absence of solid organ injury (OR 2.31, 95% CI 1.03-5.19) and intraoperative identification of visceral adhesions (OR 4.46, 95% CI 1.52-13.13).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with visceral adhesive disease and indirect evidence of bowel injury on CT scan were more likely to have occult bowel injury.