Rupture of the Spleen: A Complication of Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis

Abstract

A 44-year-old woman on CAPD for 20 months presented with severe intraperitoneal bleeding secondary to rupture of the spleen. On the day of the accident displacement of the Tenckhoff catheter to the left upper quadrant of the abdomen was detected by X-ray. We believe this dislodgement caused the rupture either by direct trauma or erosion of the organ. This complication of CAPD has not been described before. There are no previous reports of rupture of an abdominal organ during chronic peritoneal dialysis. However massive intraperitoneal hemorrhage in CAPD has been described secondary to abdominal wall erosion by the Tenckhoff catheter. We believe that rupture of the spleen in the present case was due to trauma and/or erosion induced by a displaced Tenckhoff catheter.