A fatal complication of ultrasound‐guided abdominal paracentesis

Ultrasound‐guided abdominal paracentesis is a procedure that is frequently performed by radiologists for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. This procedure has been shown to be safe with few complications. We report the case of a patient who underwent an ultrasound‐guided therapeutic abdominal paracentesis for refractory ascites complicated by intraperitoneal hemorrhage leading to death. This case suggests that ultrasound‐guided paracentesis may need to become a more standardized procedure and that in the event of hemorrhage, alternative treatment options such as embolization or surgical intervention should be utilized when manual compression fails. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 41 :457–460, 2013;