QuestionMy 14-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a spontaneous splenic rupture due to a viral (mono)infection early this year. She was hospitalized for 3 days and after various CT scans and ultrasounds, she apparently has 1/3 of her spleen left and the rest is scar tissue.
She has after several months, again complained of pain in her left abdomen. An ultrasound revealed that blood flow to her living spleen is normal, but the pain could not be explained.
My concerns are: could her remaining healthy spleen again spontaneously rupture? should I be more aggressive in pursuing tests with her primary doctor and surgeon? What typically happens to dead scar tissue of an organ? do I take my daughter's complaints of pain on her left side seriously, or try to have her wait out the pain?
Any information on this topic would be much appreciated. Thank you. Cheri Metts
AnswerUsually, this kind of spleen problem is treated conservatively, ie., without surgery. Usually, the damaged part scars down and is never a problem again. Having it several months later makes it very unlikely that it is another rupture, but, stranger things have happened in medicine, and I think you do have to take it seriously, and have it evaluated. In that setting, if someone came to me with that history, I would check the urine for infection (and, sorry, pregnancy), and if that doesn't explain it, I would probably cat scan her spleen again to make sure there was no further bleeding. So, in general, when this happens, it is almost always a one time occurence. But, I would have her at the doctor's office tomorrow (Monday) if the pain persists.
Hope this helps...
