CASE REPORT article
Front. Surg.
Sec. Pediatric Surgery
Spontaneous Splenic Rupture: A Case Report and Literature Review
Provisionally accepted
- Binzhou Medical University, Binzhou, China
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Spontaneous splenic rupture in children is a rare condition with limited documented cases in the medical literature. It can occur in both enlarged and normal-sized spleens. Clinical manifestations may include abdominal pain, splenomegaly, diminished or absent bowel sounds, Kehr's sign, Ballance's sign, and abdominal guarding. Imaging studies (computed tomography and ultrasound) serve as crucial diagnostic tools for splenic rupture. Splenectomy is no longer considered standard treatment due to the associated risk of overwhelming post-splenectomy infection (OPSI). Current therapeutic approaches prioritize hemostasis and spleen preservation. Prognosis depends on timely diagnosis and adequate management. Therefore, clinicians must maintain high vigilance for patients presenting with unexplained acute abdominal pain accompanied by hemodynamic instability. This article reports a pediatric case of spontaneous splenic rupture and reviews the literature to summarize the pathophysiology, clinical features, and management strategies for this condition.
Keywords: Atraumatic splenic rupture, Pediatric Surgery, Splenic Rupture, Spontaneous splenic rupture, Surgery
Received: 18 Aug 2025; Accepted: 10 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Fu, Li, Lei and Sun. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Geng Lei
Shuai Sun
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