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<b>Introduction:</b> Adrenal hemorrhage (AH) is a very rare and potentially life-threatening disease which may be secondary to trauma or of non-traumatic etiology.<b>Aim:</b> The aim of the study was to present the characteristics and management of adrenal hemorrhage and show that adrenal hemorrhage is more common than expected and that the clinical symptoms are not specific.<b>Materials and methods:</b> This retrospective study involved 199 patients with postoperative diagnosis of adrenal hemorrhage.<b>Discussion:</b> The factors identified as potential causes of adrenal hemorrhage are adrenocortical carcinoma, pheochromocytoma, and adrenal adenoma. The study group included 199 patients with postoperative diagnosis of AH. It showed that all patients with postoperative diagnosis had pheochromocytoma (n = 54), adrenal adenoma (n = 68), or adenocarcinoma (n = 17). If we look more careful at the results, we can find only 30% of patients (n = 39) with preoperative diagnosis of AH. This group of 39 patients was prepared for expedited surgery. In this group of patients, the preoperative diagnosis of AH was pheochromocytoma 28% (n = 11), adenocarcinoma (n = 4), and adrenal adenoma (n = 9).<b>Conclusions:</b> Bleeding into adrenal tumors is still an insufficiently understood topic due to its unpredictability and, as can be seen in our material, of varying severity. Out of 199 patients, only 30% (n = 39) were prepared for surgery with a preoperative diagnosis of AH; most of them had pheochromocytoma. We suggest that is very important to prepare patients for surgery with a preoperative diagnosis of AH using α-adrenoreceptor antagonists. Prolongation of the diagnostic process (time between the imaging examination and the surgery) may result in the disease progressing and adrenal bleeding.

The study presented three cases of patients diagnosed with adrenal tumors subject to surgical intervention during the past 6 months in our Department. The patients presented with radiological diagnostic difficulties, as to the character and location of the primary tumor. The aim of the study was to demonstrate differences between radiological examination results and the factual situation observed during the adrenalectomy. In all the presented cases patients' were subject to laparoscopic intervention. In two cases conversion to open surgery was necessary. The histopathological results of the surgically removed samples were as follows: leiomyoma, myoperycytoma and pheochromocytoma. In selected cases imaging examinations might be of limited value, especially when determining the character and location of the primary lesion of the adrenal gland.

Pheochromocytoma is a rare catecholamine-producing tumor of the adrenal gland. Patients with known pheochromocytoma undergoing surgery require preoperative treatment with alpha-blockers to reduce the risk of intraoperative complications related to catecholamine release. If undiagnosed, pheochromocytoma can lead to life-threatening surgical complications. We report the case of a patient with a suspected solid pseudopapillary neoplasm in the pancreatic tail, for whom pancreatoduodenectomy was scheduled. However, shortly after abdominal incision, hypertensive crisis developed and was followed by severe hypotension requiring intravenous vasopressors, which prompted discontinuation of the operation. Further diagnostic evaluation revealed marked elevations in urinary excretion of methylated catecholamines and suggested that the tumor was in fact a pheochromocytoma extending from the left adrenal gland. After preoperative treatment with doxazosin, the patient underwent lateral transperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy, with no major complications and an uneventful postoperative course. The pathological report confirmed a diagnosis of pheochromocytoma. Due to the potential for life-threatening surgical complications in patients with pheochromocytoma not treated preoperatively with alpha-blockers, this tumor type should be included in the differential diagnosis of abdominal tumors of unknown origin.

Introduction: We present a case of a 29-year-old patient treated due to fully symptomatic pheochromocytoma of the right adrenal gland.