Splenic Infarction Following Thyroidectomy: An Unusual Case in the Emergency Department

Abstract

Splenic infarction is a rare diagnosis in the emergency department and can easily mimic other causes of acute abdomen. Cardioembolic and hematological disorders, inflammatory (eg pancreatitis) and infectious (eg sepsis) conditions, postoperative conditions, malignant neoplasms and atherosclerosis are some of the risk factors. Papillary thyroid carcinoma is the most common histologic type of differentiated thyroid malignancy and is known as the least aggressive thyroid carcinoma. A 46-year-old male patient was admitted to the emergency department with the complaint of abdominal pain for five day. When the patient's anamnesis was deepened, it was learned that the patient had been operated on 5 days before the papillary thyroid cancer, the abdominal pain started the day after the surgery, and the pain showed an increasing and decreasing course. Contrast-enhanced abdominal CT performed on the patient revealed perfusion defects in the posterior and lateral parts of the spleen. The diagnosis of splenic infarction should also be kept in mind in patients presenting to the emergency department with left upper quadrant pain, especially in patients who have recently undergone a surgical operation, have a previous history of thrombotic and vascular disease, and have any malignancy.