Coeliac axis thrombosis associated with the combined oral contraceptive pill: a rare cause of an acute abdomen

Abstract

We report a case of coeliac axis thrombosis and splenic infarction presenting in a girl of 14 years who had been on the oral contraceptive pill (OCP), Marvelon (ethinyloestradiol 30 μg plus desogestrel 150 μg, Organon, Cambridge, UK), for 3 weeks. She had no other risk factors for thrombo-embolism. Diagnosis was made with duplex Doppler ultrasound and confirmed with dynamically-enhanced comput‐ed tomography and magnetic resonance angiography, thus avoiding the need for percutaneous arteriography. Though mesenteric thrombo-embolic disease is recognised in association with use of the combined OCP, it has not previously been reported to affect the coeliac axis. Paediatricians and surgeons should be aware of the risks to young girls on the OCP, and consider it in their differential diagnosis of the acute abdomen.