• Andrea S Rinderknecht and Wendy J Pomerantz.
• Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45229-3039, USA. Andrea.Rinderknecht@cchmc.org
• Pediatr Emerg Care. 2012 Dec 1;28(12):1377-9.

AbstractA 15-year-old previously healthy girl presented in full arrest after 1 week of flu-like symptoms, recent diagnosis of infectious mononucleosis, and 1 day of abdominal pain. There was no history of trauma. Focused assessment with sonography for trauma examination showed free fluid in the abdomen. The patient died despite aggressive resuscitative management and emergency laparotomy with splenectomy, which showed grade V splenic laceration. Infectious mononucleosis is a common viral illness of adolescence. Spontaneous splenic rupture is a rare but potentially fatal complication. Anticipatory guidance about the importance of seeking medical care if abdominal pain develops during infectious mononucleosis is crucial to early diagnosis and intervention in the case of rupture. We discuss the current literature surrounding the outpatient follow-up of splenomegaly associated with infectious mononucleosis, as well as current practice and treatment options when rupture occurs.

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