Occult Rupture of the Spleen
- 20 December 1976
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Medical Association (AMA)
- Vol. 236 (25), 2884-2886
- https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1976.03270260040027
Abstract
TRAUMATIC rupture of the spleen usually presents with profuse intraperitoneal bleeding that requires immediate splenectomy (85%) or may present as a delayed rupture (14%) with massive hemorrhage days to weeks after injury. Rarely (1%), splenic injury may occur without acute symptoms and may remain unsuspected and untreated for months or even years. The patient may then have a confusing variety of signs and symptoms often mistaken for angina, myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism, intraperitoneal malignancy, or retroperitoneal sarcoma. In 1964, Lorimer1first reported this entity (which he called "occult rupture" of the spleen) and stressed the difficulty in establishing the diagnosis and differentiating it from neoplasia Report of a Case A 53-year-old man was admitted because of chronic epigastric and left upper quadrant abdominal pain of more than a year's duration. Recently the pain had become more severe and frequent, with radiation around the left costal margin and left flank,Keywords
This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- Occult Rupture of the SpleenArchives of Surgery, 1964