Diagnosis of Rectus Sheath Hematoma by Point-of-Care Ultrasound

Rectus sheath hematoma is a rare but dangerous cause of undifferentiated hypotension and abdominal pain in the emergency department (ED). Point-of-care ultrasound is a useful tool in its identification.

A 75-year-old woman presented to the ED with hypotension of an unclear etiology. She was found, via point-of-care ultrasound, to have a large and expanding rectus sheath hematoma. She ultimately had embolization of a lacerated epigastric artery, likely caused by enoxaparin injection. WHY SHOULD AN EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN BE AWARE OF THIS?: Rectus sheath hematomas are a dangerous and often unrecognized source of abdominal pain and shock in anticoagulated patients. Commonly applied point-of-care ultrasound algorithms to assess hypotension may miss this entity.