Clinical Vignette: Splenic Abscesses

Sandra Jenneson, Andrzej K. Buczkowsi, S. Morad Hameed, Alison Harris, John English, Eric M. Yoshida

ABSTRACT

This is a case report on a 51 year old female who was found to have a splenic abscess which failed percutaneous drainage medical therapy, and ultimately required a splenectomy. She presented multiple times over seven years with complaint of recurrent abdominal pain. Investigations and work-up of her most recent presentation of abdominal pain revealed a single splenic abscess that, over the course of three months, seeded within her spleen to become multiple splenic abscesses. The differential diagnosis included Crohn’s disease, tuberculosis, and other unknown causes. The gold standard for treatment of splenic abscesses is a splenectomy; however, recent studies have shown success using different approaches based on abscess characteristics.

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Jenneson S, Buczkowsi A, Hameed SM, Harris A, English J, Yoshida EM. Clinical Vignette: Splenic Abscesses. UBCMJ. 2010 1(2):46-48.