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Pseudoaneurysm in the muscular artery of the right gluteal region following a BM harvest

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 44, page 201 (2009)Cite this article

BM harvesting is generally accepted as a safe procedure with minimal complications and is often performed as an ambulatory surgery. In addition to bleeding and infection, rarer complications have been reported to include air or fat embolism and fracture of the ilium.1, 2, 3 We report a patient who suffered a pseudoaneurysm of the muscular artery of the right gluteal region following BM harvest with massive blood loss.

Our patient, a 29-year-old male, served as the allogeneic donor for his 33-year-old sister with stage IV follicular lymphoma undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant. He underwent BM harvest from bilateral iliac crests under general anesthesia and was discharged home that afternoon with a hemoglobin of 11.7 g/100 ml immediately postoperatively. Over the next 3 days, his hemoglobin dropped further to 8.4 g/100 ml. He developed progressive pain at the site of the harvest, and physical examination revealed extensive ecchymoses extending down his right thigh suggestive of a hematoma. A computed tomography scan confirmed an extensive gluteus medius hematoma with extension down the right lateral thigh.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Hematology-Oncology, San Antonio Military Medical Center, San Antonio, TX, USA. E-mail: Bradley.mcgregor@lackland.af.mil,

    B A McGregor, D W Ririe & M B Osswald

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  1. B A McGregor
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  2. D W Ririe
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  3. M B Osswald
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McGregor, B., Ririe, D. & Osswald, M. Pseudoaneurysm in the muscular artery of the right gluteal region following a BM harvest. Bone Marrow Transplant 44, 201 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2009.2

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