Right lower quadrant pain and postpartum ovarian vein thrombosis. Uncommon but not forgotten.

INTRODUCTION: Ovarian vein thrombosis (OVT) is an uncommon, life-threatening complication of the postpartum period. Symptoms of OVT include lower abdominal and flank pain associated with fever, tachycardia, and nausea and vomiting.

CASE HISTORY: We present a case of OVT in a 22-year-old woman 4 days postpartum presenting to the emergency department with right lower quadrant pain, tachycardia, and leukocytosis. The initial clinical diagnosis was of appendicitis; however, on CT scan, she had findings characteristic of right OVT.

CONCLUSION: The clinical presentation of OVT can be very similar to that of acute appendicitis and should always be included in the differential diagnosis of right lower quadrant pain in the female patient. Modern imaging techniques enable confirmation of the diagnosis when OVT is suspected.