Citation

Claassen L, Franssen MA, de Loos ER. Clin. Pract. Cases Emerg. Med. 2019; 3(4): 417-420.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine)

DOI

10.5811/cpcem.2019.9.43674

PMID

31763603

PMCID

PMC6861025

Abstract

Hemorrhage is a major cause of death among trauma patients. Controlling the bleeding is essential but can be difficult when the source of bleeding remains unidentified. We present a 67-year-old healthy male with a hypovolemic shock after a suicide attempt by jumping from a height. Apart from a bilateral pneumothorax with multiple rib fractures, a femur fracture and spine fractures, computer tomography (CT) revealed a closed, degloving injury of the back, also known as a Morel-Lavallée lesion. Hemodynamic instability due to hemorrhage caused by a Morel-Lavallée lesion in the lumbar region is very rare and easily overlooked. This case demonstrates the importance of clinical signs of Morel-Lavallée, and illustrates the need for total body CTs to exclude other locations of bleeding and to detect contrast extravasation. This report also discusses the possible treatment options for Morel-Lavallée lesions.

Language: en