Case report: Portal vein pseudoaneurysm as an hemorrhagic complication after pancreatoduodenectomy

Abstract

Pancreaticoduodenectomy (Whipple surgery) is a procedure commonly performed for the management of pancreatic neoplasms. Hemorrhagic complications for this procedure are well known, however, there is little information on the development of portal vein pseudoaneurysm as a complication of this surgery. We present a case of a 76 year old patient with portal vein pseudoaneurysm which formed as a result of late-onset bleeding after pancreaticoduodenectomy. Computed tomography of the abdomen was performed showing the portal vein pseudoaneurysm, which was surgically corroborated as a 2cm tear in this structure. The pseudoaneurysm developed adjacent to an abdominal drainage tube and in the intraoperative anastomotic leakage was evident, findings also described in another case of portal vein pseudoaneurysm after pancreaticoduodenectomy, a situation that suggests that these conditions might be risk factors for the development of this complication.