Peritonitis secondary to ruptured splenic abscess: a grave complication of typhoid fever

ABSTRACT

Splenic abscesses are increasingly being identified, possibly due to widespread use of imaging modalities in clinical practice. The commonest clinical features are high grade fever and exclusively localised left upper quadrant abdominal pain. These symptoms are similar to most infectious diseases prevalent in the tropics, making imaging by ultrasonography or computer tomography a necessity in the diagnosis. There are reports from different geographic areas on splenic abscesses associated with typhoid fever. We reported ruptured splenic abscess presenting with peritonitis as a rare and grave complication of typhoid fever.