Hemothorax and retroperitoneal bleeding caused by warfarin in politraumatized patient

Abstract

If some medical problems are not noticed to in polytraumatized patients at the right time, they may be caused by serious complications. The haematological parameters, especially bleeding and coagulation factors, are very important for them. If they use warfarin, heparin or salicylates, they should be cared intensively. In this paper, a traffic accident case, a 48-year-old woman has been reported. She broke her iliac bone and made her hemothorax. In the first health centre the patient was admitted, Hemothorax was not recognized since chest graphics was not diagnosed at an earlier stage. When dyspnoea was began, pulmonary embolism diagnosis was made and warfarin was applied which caused retroperitoneal bleeding. In fact, it is not known whether hemothorax was caused by the first trauma or by the use of warfarin. In our hospital, with the teamwork of emergency room, thorax surgery, orthopaedics, internal medicine and chest department, correct diagnosis was made and correct treatment was applied, and the patient got out of the hospital in good health. In conclusion, patients with multiple traumas should be followed with a multidisciplinary approach. There are a lot of considerations in the follow-up and treatment of this class of patients. If the traumatized patients are used warfarin, they should be observed more carefully.