Traumatic cysts of the spleen--the role of cystectomy and splenic preservation: experience with seven consecutive patients.

Nonparasitic secondary cysts (pseudocysts) of the spleen are uncommon and usually result from blunt abdominal trauma. A 3-year experience with 7 consecutive cases of posttraumatic splenic pseudocysts suggests an increased prevalence of this clinical entity. This report describes 7 adult patients (5 men and 2 women) with a mean age of 32 years, all of whom sustained relatively minor trauma within 5 years of admission. Persistent epigastric or left upper quadrant pain led to a CT scan diagnosis of splenic cysts that varied in size from 7 cm to 15 cm. Each patient underwent resection of the cyst-bearing portion of the spleen with preservation of the remaining normal splenic parenchyma. There were no deaths or complications in the entire group. Because posttraumatic splenic cysts are rare, the accumulation of a significant data base leading to firm conclusions is lacking.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)