Treatment of pregnancy-associated oral pyogenic granuloma with life-threatening haemorrhage by transarterial embolisation.

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy-associated pyogenic granuloma (pregnancy tumour) is not uncommon. However, control of severe bleeding associated with the lesion by transarterial embolisation has never been reported.

CASE REPORT: We report the case of a 33-year-old pregnant woman (34 weeks gestation) who presented with a pregnancy-associated pyogenic granuloma of the mandibular gingiva with a life-threatening haemorrhage. The bleeding stopped soon after transarterial micro-embolisation and regressed after one month; thus, no further surgical excision was needed. The patient was free of post-operative wound pain and infection, and there was no recurrence after one year of follow up.

CONCLUSION: In general, surgical excision is the first treatment choice for pregnancy tumours. However, it is limited by the risk of marked deformity or incomplete excision when large lesions or difficult surgical areas are encountered. For large tumours, transarterial embolisation may be a safer alternative.