Spontaneous Abdominal Wall Hematoma Treated with Percutaneous Transarterial Embolization: Diagnostic Findings, Procedural Outcome, and Efficacy—A Multicenter Study

Abstract

Endovascular management of abdominal wall hematomas (AWHs) is now the primary treatment option in hemodynamically stable patients, and it is often preferred to surgical interventions. The purpose of this multicentric study was to assess the safety, technical, and clinical success of percutaneous transarterial embolization (PTAE) of spontaneous AWHs to evaluate the efficacy of blind or empiric embolization compared to targeted embolization and to compare the outcome of the endovascular treatment approach in patients affected by COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients. We retrospectively enrolled 112 patients with spontaneous AWHs who underwent PTAE, focusing on signs of bleeding at pre-procedural CTA and DSA. Patients were separated into two groups depending on whether a blind or targeted embolization approach was used. We also divided patients into COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 groups. The mean age of the study population was 68.6 ± 15.8 years. CTA and DSA revealed signs of active bleeding in 99 and 88 patients, respectively. In 21 patients, blind embolization was performed. The overall technical success rate was 99%. Clinical success was obtained in 96 patients (86%), while 16 (14%) re-bled within 96 h. One patient reported a major peri-procedural complication. The comparison between blind and targeted embolization approaches showed no statistically significant differences in the characteristics of groups and technical and clinical success rates. No significant differences were found in the procedural outcome between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 groups. Our study confirmed that PTAE is effective for treating spontaneous AWHs, even in COVID-19 patients. It suggests that the efficacy and safety of blind embolization are comparable to targeted embolization.