Delayed presentation of blunt splenic injury.

Eleven patients with delayed presentation of splenic injury after blunt abdominal trauma treated during a 10 year period have been described. They represented 24 percent of all patients treated for blunt splenic injury in our department in that time period. Ten patients required operative treatment and one was treated nonoperatively. There were no deaths. The value of computerized tomography and ultrasonography in the accurate preoperative assessment of splenic injury has been documented. In addition, the various diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities in blunt splenic trauma have been discussed.