Wandering splenomegaly reduction after splenopexy

A wandering spleen is characterized by excessive splenic mobility due to the laxity of its ligaments, which leads to spleen migration and its long mobile vascular pedicle is liable to torsion. The purpose of this paper was to present a wandering splenomegaly reduction after splenic detorsion and splenopexy.

A 14-year-old boy presented a symptomatic visible pelvic wandering splenomegaly with torsion of the splenic pedicle. He was submitted to laparotomy, detorsion of the spleen, and splenopexy to the left diaphragm and surrounded peritoneum. The patient had an uneventful follow-up and was discharged from the hospital on the second postoperative day. All laboratory exams went to normal. The size of the spleen reduced from the 22 × 16 × 13 cm before the treatment to 14 × 12 × 10 cm after the surgical procedure.

The most relevant aspect of this communication is the reduction of the huge splenomegaly to a normal size spleen after detorsion of the splenic vessels and splenopexy to the left diaphragm. Reduction of the splenic size is well-known after distal splenorenal shunt, but this is the first publication of a spontaneous splenic size reduction after treating a congestive wandering splenomegaly by detorsion of the spleen pedicle.

Ectopic congestive splenomegaly due to the splenic pedicle rotation is adequately treated by splenic detorsion and splenopexy in its proper subdiaphragmatic site, which reduces the splenic size to normal.