A Case of Laparoscopic Splenectomy for Wandering Spleen

Satsuki Fukushima, Masaaki Nakahara, Nobuo Ogino, Tetsuo Kido, Kazushi Kurozumi, Akio Kuhara, Hiroyuki Nishi, Ichitaka Kimura, Kazuyasu Nakao and Masahiko Tsujimoto^*

Department of Surgery and Pathology^*, Osaka Police Hospital

Wandering spleen is a rare condition characterized by increased splenic mobility due to laxity or absence of its suspensory ligaments. We report a case of wandering spleen. A 15-year-old female was admitted to our hospital because of persistent abdominal pain after riding a roller coaster. At 13 years of age, she had come to our hospital with similar abdominal pain, but CT examination had not revealed any abnormal findings except splenomegaly. CT examination this time revealed that the spleen was not in its anatomically correct position in the left hypochondrium, but lower in the abdominal cavity. We diagnosed wandering spleen with extensive infarction by ultrasonography and angiography and performed laparoscopic splenectomy. Intraoperative inspecion revealed absence of the splenic ligaments, and histological examination showed a normal spleen with extensive infarction. The postoperative course was uneventful, and there were no signs of abdominal pain after surgery.

Key words
wandering spleen, splenic infarction, laparoscopic splenectomy

Reprint requests
Satsuki Fukushima Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, National Cardiovascular Center, 5-7-1 Fujishirodai, Suita, 565-8565 JAPAN

Accepted
April 25, 2001

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