Laparoscopic partial splenectomy for congenital splenic cyst in a pediatric patient: Case report and review of literature

Non-parasitic splenic cysts (NPSC) are a rare condition that makes difficult to know their true incidence and represent 10% of all benign splenic cysts, they can be either congenital with the presence of epithelial lining that originate from invagination of the capsular mesothelial lining or post-traumatic with absence of epithelial lining. We present our management of a splenic congenital cyst in a pediatric patient. A 10-year-old female patient presented to the clinic complaining with a 3-week abdominal pain at the left upper quadrant. An ultrasound showed an enlarged spleen with a thinned walled cystic image on the lower pole of 5 cm. An abdominal CT confirmed the presence of a splenic cyst at the lower pole of the spleen of 5 cm in diameter. Three-port laparoscopic partial splenectomy was done isolating and dividing the lower splenic artery and vein and the lower pole of the spleen with a vessel sealing device. Management of a non-parasitic splenic cyst is controversial: cystectomy, fenestration, percutaneous drainage and sclerotherapy have been previously described, most of them aiming to preserve spleen function and avoiding overwhelming post-splenectomy infection. Partial splenectomy seems the most effective one in terms of preserving spleen function and avoiding recurrence. © 2017 The Author(s)