Bird's nest inferior vena caval filter migration into the duodenum: a rare cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding

To report the first case of a potentially catastrophic complication of vena caval interruption with a bird's nest filter.

A 55-year-old Saudi patient presented with hypovolemic shock from massive upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Endoscopy identified a metallic object penetrating the duodenum. Five years earlier, the patient had a bird's nest vena caval filter inserted for recurrent pulmonary embolism. During emergent laparotomy, a broken filter wire was found projecting into the duodenum, where it had induced three profusely bleeding ulcers. The wire was transected and the ulcers oversewn. A hook projecting from the inferior vena cava (IVC) was also cut flush with the vessel wall, but the IVC was not opened nor the filter replaced. The patient's postoperative course was complicated by deep venous thrombosis, but he recovered and is asymptomatic on warfarin anticoagulation after 1 year. Computed tomography (CT) at 1-year follow-up confirmed no further migration of the filter.

This event reinforces the need to monitor patients with IVC filters over the long term, preferably using CT scanning, and to consider filter migration as a possible cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding.