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Unusual case of acute onset abdominal pain: uses and limitations of medical imaging

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2015

Glen Bandiera  and
Eric Poulin
Glen Bandiera*
Affiliation:
St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Ont., and Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.
Eric Poulin
Affiliation:
St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, and Department of Surgery, University of Toronto
*
Department of Emergency Services, St. Michael’s Hospital, 30 Bond St., Toronto ON M5B 1W8; 416 864-5095, fax 416 864-5341, glen.bandiera@utoronto.ca

Abstract

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A 28-year-old male with atraumatic abdominal pain and transient hypotension was assessed using bedside emergency department (ED) ultrasonography and contrast enhanced helical computed tomography (CT). Both tests revealed free intraperitoneal fluid, but neither detected a splenic defect. The patient subsequently underwent splenectomy for a ruptured spleen. His serology for typical viral causes was negative. This article discusses spontaneous splenic rupture, the role of imaging in diagnosis, and the limitations of ED ultrasound and contrast enhanced helical CT.

Keywords

abdominal painspleen ruptureultrasoundemergency departmentEpstein–Barr
Type
Case Report • Observations de Cas
Information
Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine , Volume 5 , Issue 4 , July 2003 , pp. 263 - 267
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians 2003

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