Background The spleen is one of the most frequently injured abdominal organs during trauma, which can result in intraperitoneal bleeding of life-threatening magnitude. Although splenic injury secondary to trivial trauma comprises a minor fraction of abdominal injuries, undiagnosed or delayed diagnosis may result in a complicated clinical course. Case presentation One such event is presented here, wherein a late diagnosis of an advanced grade splenic injury following a trivial trauma initially presented in disguise as acute myocardial ischaemia in a previously healthy South Asian woman in her late 30s. Emergency laparotomy and splenectomy were performed with simultaneous massive transfusion for a 3.5-L blood loss. She subsequently had an uncomplicated clinical course with regular surgical follow-up. Conclusion Splenic injuries might present with ambiguous symptoms such as atypical chest pain and shoulder pain, necessitating attending clinicians to have a high degree of suspicion, especially in busy units such as the emergency department (ED).

BackgroundSpleen is one of the frequently injured abdominal organs during trauma which could result in intraperitoneal bleeding of life-threatening magnitude. Even though, splenic injury ensuing trivial trauma accounts for a minor fraction of splenic injury and might go unnoticed, delayed or missed diagnosis and management could result in a complicated clinical course.Case DescriptionOne such event is presented here, wherein late diagnosis of an advanced grade splenic injury following a trivial trauma initially presented in disguise as acute myocardial ischemia in a previously healthy South Asian lady in her late 30s. Emergency laparotomy and splenectomy were performed with simultaneous massive transfusion for a 3.5-liter blood loss. She had an uncomplicated clinical course with regular surgical follow-up. ConclusionSplenic injuries might present with atypical symptoms such as uncharacteristic chest pain and shoulder pain, necessitating attending clinicians to have a high degree of suspicion especially in busy units such as the emergency department.