Wandering, twisted spleen in a deerhound

Abstract

A 14‐month‐old, entire, deerhound bitch experienced episodes of abdominal discomfort. During some episodes, the abnormally shaped spleen could be palpated in the dorsocaudal abdomen, rather than in its normal cranioventral location. Exploratory laparotomy revealed an enlarged spleen that was twisted on its long axis but not on its suspensory ligaments. The spleen was excised, and the dog made an uneventful recovery. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a so‐called wandering spleen in a dog, a condition that has been described in humans, albeit rarely. This also is the first report of a twisted spleen in a dog. Veterinary practitioners should include these two possibilities (wandering spleen and twisted spleen) in their list of differential diagnoses when presented with a dog experiencing abdominal discomfort or with an abdominal mass.