Beyond Surgical Site Bleeding

We report the case of a 66-year-old female who underwent autologous breast reconstruction and sustained a massive upper gastrointestinal bleed secondary to a duodenal ulcer after using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) consistently for 2 weeks. She required resuscitation with a massive blood transfusion protocol and definitive hemorrhage control with interventional coiling of the gastroduodenal artery. We discuss the importance of thinking beyond surgical site bleeding with NSAIDs as well as risk stratification and prevention of NSAID-induced complications.