Spontaneous rectus sheath hematoma: two variant cases

We present two variant cases of spontaneous rectus sheath hematoma (SRSH). A 71-year-old woman presented with ST elevation myocardial infarction and was found to have multivessel coronary artery disease. She was treated with aspirin, clopidogrel, eptifibatide, and heparin. Heparin was continued while preoperative workup for coronary artery bypass grafting was done. She developed a large 20x10 cm actively bleeding SRSH while on heparin. It was surgically evacuated. The second case represents an atypical cause of SRSH. A 64-year-old woman with Wegener's Granulomatosis presented with anemia and abdominal pain. Abdominal CT showed a large 22 cm SRSH without active bleeding that was treated conservatively. Both patients did well on follow-up. The incidence of SRSH is likely to increase in the coming years with the increasing use of antithrombotic agents for many disease processes. Clinicians should be aware of typical and atypical presentations of SRSH and its variant management options.