Intractable bleeding managed with Foley catheter tamponade after dilation and evacuation.

Abstract

Hemorrhage is one of the most frequent complications after dilation and evacuation. A small fraction of patients with hemorrhage will not respond to standard therapies. We discuss a case where both reaspiration and standard pharmacologic therapy failed to control hemorrhage and where hemorrhage was ultimately controlled by tamponade with two Foley catheters. We propose this method as an additional alternative for controlling hemorrhage after dilation and evacuation before resorting to angiographic embolization or surgery.