Spleen preserving distal pancreatectomy in an isolated blunt pancreatic trauma

Blunt isolated pancreatic trauma is uncommon, accounting for 1%-4% of high impact abdominal injuries. In addition, its diagnosis can be difficult; physical signs may be poor and laboratory findings nonspecific, resulting in delayed treatment. Preserving the spleen during distal pancreatectomy (DP) is controversial. One of the spleen's functions regards immunity; complications following splenectomy include leukocytosis, thrombocytosis, overwhelming post splenectomy sepsis and some degree of immunodeficiency. This is why many authors favor its preservation. We describe a case of a young man with an isolated pancreatic trauma due to a blunt abdominal trauma with a delayed presentation who was treated with spleen-preserving DP and we discuss the value of this procedure with reference to the literature.