Serious bleeding from a ruptured adrenal mass limits preoperative diagnostics and can necessitate urgent laparotomy to control blood loss. A 45-year old man underwent an emergency laparotomy due to severe retroperitoneal haemorrhage causing hypovolaemia. Detailed retroperitoneal dissection after splenectomy and clamping of the abdominal aorta revealed bleeding from a ruptured haemangioma of the left adrenal gland. Following a left adrenalectomy, the patient returned to a stable haemodynamic state. Adrenal haemangiomas are rare, but may cause spontaneous life-threatening haemorrhage.
Keywords: adrenal haeman-gioma; haemorrhage; haemostasis; retroperitoneal; shock.