Ultrasound-guided transvaginal thrombin injection of uterine arteries pseudoaneurysms.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the utility of transvaginal ultrasound-guided thrombin injection (UGTI) to treat uterine artery pseudoaneurysms (UAPs) as an alternative to emergency arterial embolization.

METHODS: Two females presenting with heavy vaginal bleeding were diagnosed with UAPs by pelvic CT scan. After UAP identification by transvaginal ultrasound, 2 cm3 of thrombin (Tissucol® ; Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Munich, Germany) was slowly injected into the UAPs using a 30-cm long 22-gauge needle through a needle guide attached to the vaginal probe. The same procedure was performed in both cases, and the Doppler sign disappeared immediately and the bleeding stopped.

RESULTS: We describe two cases of UAPs treated with transvaginal UGTI: one after intrauterine tandem and vaginal colpostat insertion for brachytherapy after diagnosis of cervical cancer (Case 1) and the other after the insertion of a levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine device (Case 2).

CONCLUSION: Transvaginal UGTI could be a minimally invasive tool to treat selected cases of UAPs with severe vaginal bleeding. Advances in knowledge: Transvaginal UGTI could avoid the need for uterine embolization and emergency hysterectomy in selected cases of UAPs diagnosed by CT scan.