Widespread dissemination of gelfoam particles complicating occlusion of renal circulation

Embolization of renal circulation by Gelfoam particles in a thirty-two-year-old man with renal carcinoma was followed by retrograde regurgitation of the injected particles upstream, with resultant occlusion of the celiac trunk and the superior mesenteric artery. This was followed by a stormy clinical course, which the patient survived. Several possible explanations are offered for the occurrence of this complication.