Children (Aug 2020)

Large Splenic Abscess Caused by Non-Typhoidal <i>Salmonella</i> in a Healthy Child Treated with Percutaneous Drainage

  • Hyun Woo Lee,
  • Seung Beom Han

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/children7080088
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 8
p. 88

Abstract

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Splenic abscess occurs very rarely in healthy children. Although typhoid fever was the leading cause of splenic abscess in the pre-antibiotic era, Salmonella spp. remain to be the major pathogens causing splenic abscess, with an increasing worldwide frequency of splenic abscess due to non-typhoidal Salmonella infection. Here, we report the case of a 12-year-old boy, who was presumably diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis on admission and eventually diagnosed with a large splenic abscess (maximum diameter, 14.5 cm) caused by non-typhoidal Salmonella. Although splenectomy has been considered in cases of large splenic abscesses, the patient was treated with antibiotics and ultrasonography-guided percutaneous drainage. A detailed physical examination and appropriate imaging studies are necessary for the early diagnosis of extra-intestinal complications of non-typhoidal Salmonella enteritis. For treatment, percutaneous drainage, rather than splenectomy, can be used in large splenic abscesses.

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