title: At the Beach: To Jump or Not to Jump?
abstract: Splenic injury due to blunt abdominal trauma is an emergency condition in pediatrics. We present a case of a 10-year-old girl who presented to the emergency department 12 hours after a fall from height with abdominal pain, vomiting, and left upper quadrant tenderness and was found to have splenic rupture. Because of extensive bleeding and hemodynamic instability, emergency exploratory laparotomy was performed. Splenic bleeding lacerations were controlled by sutures and tamponade, and ipsilateral intrathoracic hemorrhagic fluid was drained with a good recovery. In this article, we emphasize the importance of early recognition, proper imaging, and splenic conservation where possible in pediatric blunt trauma.
authors.affiliation: From the *Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, University Hospital, University of Crete; and †Department of Radiology, University Hospital, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Briassoulis
authors.forename: Diana-Michaela
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Fitrolaki
authors.forename: Theonymfi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tavladaki
authors.forename: Argiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Voloudaki
authors.forename: Stavroula
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ilia
mesh_terms: D000007:Abdominal Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000601:surgery; D000058:Accidental Falls; D002648:Child; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007813:Laparotomy / Q000379:methods; D013161:Splenic Rupture / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D015898:Tomography Scanners, X-Ray Computed; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*