Spontaneous hemoperitoneum secondary to intraabdominal variceal rupture, is an uncommon and highly lethal complication of cirrhosis. We report a case of a 68 years old male submitted because of abdominal pain and fainting. The clinical and laboratory work up concluded that the patient had cirrhosis and hemoperitoneum. He was operated on and the exploration showed a massive hemoperitoneum caused by bleeding gastro-splenic varices. The patient died in the immediate postoperative period (Rev Méd Chile 2002; 130: 433-436)