title: Spleen injury following left extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A splenic rupture associated with extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL) is exceedingly rare. We report a case of stage 3 splenic laceration, hemoperitoneum and subsequent splenic rupture following an ESWL for a left mid polar renal calculus.
  
  
  METHODS
  During the ESWL, although the patient's pain was controlled the gentleman was very nervous and had to be repositioned eight individual times. Approximately 6 hours after the ESWL, the patient phoned the urologist complaining of severe left flank pain unlike any previous episode of renal colic. A computerized tomography (CT) scan demonstrated a stage 3 splenic injury with hemoperitoneum. The patient decompensated and an emergent splenectomy was then performed and the patient experienced an uneventful recovery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Splenic injury likely results from unintentional movement during the sound wave administration for the stone fragmentation procedure. Utilizing noise cancelling headphones during ESWL may preclude the potential pitfalls of patient nervousness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Detroit Medical Center-Harper and Hutzel Hospitals, Detroit, Michigan, 48201, USA. urourogyn@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Serge P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Marinkovic
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Detroit Medical Center-Harper and Hutzel Hospitals, Detroit, Michigan, 48201, USA. csmarinkovic@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Christina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Marinkovic
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Detroit Medical Center-Harper and Hutzel Hospitals, Detroit, Michigan, 48201, USA. xdh888@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Donghua
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D004638:Emergency Treatment; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006465:Hemoperitoneum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007669:Kidney Calculi / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D008096:Lithotripsy / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D035583:Rare Diseases; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013156:Splenectomy / Q000379:methods; D013161:Splenic Rupture / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome