[Hemorrhagic pseudocysts and pseudoaneurysms in pancreatitis. Diagnosis and therapy]

Acute hemorrhage from pseudocysts and pseudoaneurysms is a threatening complication of chronic pancreatitis. Whilst surgical intervention still has high perioperative mortality (16.8%), transcatheter arterial embolization is becoming more frequently used for suitable cases and appears to have lower mortality (6.1%). We report on six patients treated in our unit. Four of them underwent primary surgical treatment, the other two were treated by embolisation. One of the latter patients subsequently required laparotomy for further treatment. All six patients survived. Comparing the literature covering the periods between 1951 and 1981 and between 1982 and 1996, transcatheter embolisation seems to be valuable in controlling this type of bleeding, thereby reducing mortality.