Rare case of wandering spleen in patient with abdominal pain reported

Charlène Marques Viana, Department of General Surgery, de Braga Hospital, Braga, Portugal, and colleagues present a case report of splenic torsion and a review of cases described in literature.

The case in question is of a 40 years old woman presenting with complaints of abdominal pain associated with nausea and vomiting.  A marked tenderness and a palpable abdominal mass on left hypochondrium were found as well as a slight increase in inflammatory parameters.

A CT was performed and demonstrated findings compatible with splenic torsion. Surgery was performed doing laparoscopic splenectomy; a review of literature was made using the keyword combination: "wandering spleen". The research resulted in 451 articles. 

"Splenic torsion is a rare but important differential diagnosis in patients presenting with acute abdomen. Diagnosis should be made promptly before the development of life-threatening complications. Surgery is often necessary and splenopexy or splenectomy can be done.," concluded the authors.  

The study, "Splenic torsion, a challenging diagnosis: Case report and review of literature," was published in the International Journal of Surgery Case Reports.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijscr.2018.02.032