A Morel-Lavallée lesion is a closed degloving injury caused by traumatic separation of the skin and subcutaneous tissue from the underlying fascia. However, since physicians tend to focus on treating the bone fracture, hemodynamic instability accompanying a Morel-Lavallée lesion can sometimes be overlooked. We report the case of a hemodynamically unstable 73-year-old man who had a Morel-Lavallée lesion of the thigh, but no femur fracture. Angiography showed active bleeding from the muscular branch of the right deep femoral artery, which was then successfully embolized.

A Morel-Lavallée lesion is a post-traumatic closed degloving soft tissue injury after blunt trauma. Infection and skin necrosis frequently occur if it is not treated properly in the early stages. However, there is no clearly established treatment algorithm. In the acute stage, it is mainly treated with aspiration, simple compression, and incisional drainage. In the chronic stage, sclerotherapy is usually performed. If skin necrosis develops, the necrotic tissue is resected and a skin graft is needed. We describe a case of acute Morel-Lavallée lesion in the buttock region that was treated with limited incisional drainage and negative-pressure wound therapy, and also present a review of the literature.