Acute Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation After Prophylactic Nailing of the Femur in a Patient with Metastatic Prostate Cancer: A Case Report.

CASE: We present a case of acute disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) after prophylactic femoral intramedullary stabilization in a patient with metastatic prostate cancer. Preoperative international normalized ratio of 1.4 was attributed to malnutrition, and the patient was not medically optimized. DIC developed 1 hour postoperatively and was managed with blood product resuscitation. At the 4-month follow-up, the patient presented with bilateral pulmonary emboli and was transitioned to palliative care.

CONCLUSIONS

DIC after intramedullary stabilization in patients with metastatic bone disease is a rare condition with high mortality rate. Early recognition, blood product resuscitation, and involvement of appropriate subspecialty services are imperative in DIC management.