Transgraft hemorrhage: a serious complication of low-dose thrombolytic therapy.

A 71-year-old woman came to the hospital with a 24-hour-old occlusion of the left limb of an aortoiliac knitted Dacron graft and was treated with an intra-arterial infusion of urokinase, 40,000 U/hr. Although the graft limb was successfully recanalized in 16 hours, the patient suffered a massive retroperitoneal hemorrhage through the wall of the graft. Clinicians must be aware of this potentially serious complication of thrombolytic therapy in patients with thrombosed, knitted Dacron grafts.