Clinical experience of a patient with hemopericardium

Introduction: pericardial effusion is a frequent entity in daily practice, which can occur due to a wide range of pathologies, it is the result of an increase in the blood content of the pericardial sac.Case presentation: female patient, white skin, 93 years old, presented with a fall on her own feet, was taken to the Orthopedics and Traumatology Department where a diagnosis of intertrochanteric right hip fracture was made and admission to the observation room was indicated for subsequent surgical treatment. The patient began to become tachycardic 110/min, hypotensive 80/50 mmHg, she began to resuscitate with volume responding to fluid minirection (4ml/Kg). Hematocrit was repeated and found to be 0.25, her state of shock was attributed as hypovolemic hemorrhagic. Signs of tissue hypoperfusion persisted, despite the prescribed measures and increased vasopressor requirements. It was decided to perform an echocardiogram where there were evident signs of pericardial effusion. Pericardial window and hemostasis of the bleeding site were performed, achieving the survival of this case. Conclusions: hemopericardium is an entity with a reserved prognosis, which may occur due to a wide range of traumatic and non-traumatic pathologies; imaging methods are a key diagnostic tool, transthoracic echocardiography is the first line method for its evaluation. Therapeutic percutaneous approach, surgical exploration, as well as pericardiocentesis are therapeutic methods