Intra-abdominal, peritoneal, or retroperitoneal hematomas are sometimes simply referred to as abdominal hematomas. Regardless of what you call them, intra-abdominal hematomas are when you have internal bleeding in your peritoneal cavity. This cavity is the name for the space that separates your internal organs from the protective lining of the abdominal wall.
Intra-abdominal hematomas can be very serious if there’s enough internal bleeding or blood travels to the wrong part of the body. There are many different things that can lead to this internal bleeding, and it can either be related to an external force or happen spontaneously. Regardless of the cause, however, it’s important to seek immediate medical attention if you have an intra-abdominal, peritoneal, or retroperitoneal hematoma.
Most cases of intra-abdominal bleeding happen after a traumatic accident or hit to the abdomen, Otherwise, it’s difficult to know if you’re experiencing symptoms, because they mostly happen inside your body. However, here are some of the things to watch out for.
These symptoms occur because you’re experiencing internal bleeding in the peroneal cavity. Symptoms will worsen depending on how bad the bleeding is and could eventually be life-threatening if you don’t seek medical attention.
There are several different causes for intra-abdominal hematomas which is why they’re often divided into types. These types include traumatic, non-traumatic, and iatrogenic hematomas, each type getting its name based on what caused it. Here’s a quick breakdown of the different types and causes of intra-abdominal hematomas.
A hard blow to the stomach, stab wound, gunshot, or another incident resulting in stomach trauma can lead to a traumatic hematoma.
A complication during surgery that results in internal bleeding is an iatrogenic hematoma.
There are also health and physical conditions that can cause an intra-abdominal hematoma. These causes could be pregnancy, obesity, or a related disease or condition such as an aneurism, cyst rupture, or tumour.
Trauma and ectopic pregnancies are the most common causes for an intra-abdominal hematoma, while tumours, cysts, and trauma are the most common causes in men. Hematomas related to medications from surgery can happen slowly over a prolonged period, while other types of intra-abdominal hematomas occur more sudden.
Because there’s a sense of urgency with intra-abdominal hematomas, doctors will try to diagnose you as quickly as possible. For starters, they will consider your symptoms and health history, because there’s usually something that happened to you to cause your hematoma.
Next, if they suspect you have internal bleeding, they will administer an ultrasound or CT scan to see if there’s internal bleeding. They may also administer a paracentesis which is when they insert a needle into your chest and draw fluids to see if there’s blood in the peritoneal cavity.
If your doctor determines that you have an intra-abdominal hematoma, they will immediately take measures to stop the bleeding. This will involve one or more of the following methods.
Surgery, laparoscopic or otherwise, is usually necessary to repair the blood vessels and organs inside your body that are causing internal bleeding.
If you’re suffering a minor bleed, it’s possible that medications will be enough to stop the internal bleeding.
Depending on how much blood you lost, you may need transfusions to replenish your lost blood.
Regardless of the type of intra-abdominal hematoma you suffered, diagnosis and treatment are always necessary to repair it.