A Multimodal Approach to Control of Massive Hemorrhage Secondary to Rectal Cancer

The management of patients with symptomatic rectal masses can be challenging and is further complicated in cases of advanced age, comorbidities, prior surgeries, and acute hemorrhage. In this report, we describe a patient who presented with massive hemorrhage from a 7 cm low rectal tumor with subsequent cardiac arrest. After return of spontaneous circulation, emergent pelvic angiography identified extensive tumor enhancement and blush off the anterior division of the right internal iliac artery from multiple parasitized vessels. The right internal iliac artery was embolized with multiple microcoils to decrease the tumor blood supply and slow the rate of bleeding. The patient was then taken directly from the angiography suite to radiation oncology for planning CT, and within several hours, underwent his first session of radiation. In conjunction with angioembolization, short-course radiation therapy can be an effective treatment modality for advanced bleeding rectal tumors not amenable to surgical resection.