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Nikolaos Pararas, Saravanan Rajendiran, Imad Taha, Rahul Ramachandra Powar, Carlos Holguera, Ezzat Tadros
(Department of Surgery, Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Hospitals, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)
Am J Case Rep 2020; 21:e919956
DOI: 10.12659/AJCR.919956
BACKGROUND:
Splenic artery aneurysm is uncommon in a healthy young male patient. With spontaneous rupture, it can quickly become life-threatening. Our aim is to highlight the possibility of splenic artery aneurysm among healthy young patients and its presentation as recurrent abdominal pain, while pending rupture is possible, which can present a diagnostic challenge. The rare occurrence and spontaneous rupture of a splenic artery aneurysm are often fatal outside an inpatient setting.
CASE REPORT:
Here, we present the case of a 32-year-old patient who visited the Emergency Department with recurrent epigastric pain. While undergoing inpatient evaluation, had a spontaneous rupture of a splenic artery aneurysm with hypovolemic shock and a double-rupture phenomenon, necessitating emergency surgery.
CONCLUSIONS:
With advances in modern imaging in recent years, the incidence of splenic aneurysm has increased 7-fold; therefore, being informed and considering it in the differential diagnosis might provide a window of opportunity and save lives.