Point‐of‐care ultrasound‐assisted diagnosis of gastric vessel rupture in a young man presenting with chest pain: A cautionary tale

Abstract

We report a young male patient who presented with chest and shoulder tip pain with spontaneous intraperitoneal haemorrhage (haemoperitoneum) due to gastric vessel rupture. Point‐of‐care ultrasound detected abdominal free fluid, which led to a CT scan of the abdomen and reached the diagnosis. Intra‐abdominal bleeding can present as referred chest or shoulder tip pain, as more commonly seen in females with pelvic pathologies. Point‐of‐care ultrasound may add diagnostic value with the detection of a haemoperitoneum in this context.

POCUS is everywhere

“…Adorno et al 5 present a series of three cases who were being worked up for renal colic, in which emergency room POCUS resulted in the detection of malignant tumours. And Yasuda et al 6 present a case where POCUS revealed free fluid in the abdomen which expedited a CT scan and diagnosis of spontaneous intraperitoneal haemorrhage secondary to gastric vessel rupture in a young patient presenting with chest pain.…”