Wandering spleen and its complications in children: a case series and review of the literature

• Published in: Journal of pediatric surgery 2003-11, Vol.38 (11), p.1676-1679
• Main Authors: Brown, Carlos V.R, Virgilio, Gina R, Vazquez, W.David
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abdomen; Abdominal Pain - etiology; aberrant; Adult; Appendicitis - diagnosis; Autistic Disorder - complications; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Developmental Disabilities - complications; Diagnosis, Differential; dislocate; displaced; drift; dystopic; Female; Fever - etiology; floating; Gastroenterology. Liver. Pancreas. Abdomen; General aspects; Humans; Intestinal Volvulus - etiology; Laparotomy; lien; Liver. Biliary tract. Portal circulation. Exocrine pancreas; Male; Medical sciences; mobile; mobilis; Other diseases. Semiology; prolapse; ptotic; Spleen; Spleen - abnormalities; Spleen - surgery; splenic; splenic diseases; Splenic Diseases - etiology; Splenic Diseases - surgery; splenoptosis; Surgical Mesh; torsion; Torsion Abnormality; Tumors; Vomiting - etiology; wander; wandering
• ISSN: 0022-3468; 1531-5037
• DOI: 10.1016/S0022-3468(03)00582-7

Wandering spleen is an uncommon clinical entity, which rarely affects children and adolescents. It is usually described in adults, especially women of childbearing age. Discussion in the literature has been limited to case reports and small case series. Here the authors present 2 children and 1 adolescent that presented to the authors institution over a 9-month period with complications from a wandering spleen. All 3 patients had very different clinical presentations, and this variety is a constant theme throughout the literature. We also identified an additional 127 cases of wandering spleen in patients younger than 21 years. In this report we discuss the clinical presentations, diagnostic evaluation, treatment options, and clinical outcomes as they relate to wandering spleen.