[A rare cause of negative explora tory laparotomy in severe blunt trauma]

We report the case of a young man involved in a high velocity road traffic accident. He presented with multiple injuries and a shock. This shock was suspected to be caused by an intra-abdominal bleeding and an exploratory laparotomy was performed. The procedure did not identify any intra-abdominal bleeding and the source of bleeding was found lately: an intramuscular active bleeding in the dorsal and lumbar muscular compartments. This case was discussed in our local mortality and morbidity meeting.