Splenic Ruptures: What Athletes Need to Know

It is always tragic to see a young athlete die and Evan Murray’s (17 year-old New Jersey football player) death is no exception. We do not know all the details with Evan Murray but it is important to learn from these tragedies so here is some general information regarding injuries to the spleen with sport participation. 

A ruptured spleen is most often from a direct blow to the abdomen which means there is always a risk for this to occur with contact sports such as football and soccer. Injuries to the abdomen are rare in sports and it can be hard to identify since the symptoms do not always appear immediately. Most commonly an athlete will complain of pain in the stomach and often worse on the left side. It may hurt worse to move. An athlete may also complain of pain in the left or right shoulder which is called “referred pain” and you can sometimes see bruising around the belly button or on the left side of the abdomen from the bleeding spleen. There is, however, a viral infection called mononucleosis that puts athletes at a higher risk for splenic rupture. 

Mononucleosis, commonly referred to as “mono” or “the kissing disease” since it is transferred through saliva, causes the spleen to enlarge. Since this illness is known to cause the spleen to increase in size the recommendation is no sports or activity for at least 3 weeks. When the spleen is larger than normal it can actually rupture on its own without trauma. There is still some debate about when it is safe to return to contact sports but the biggest risk for a ruptured spleen is in the first 3 to 7 weeks of illness. Despite this known risk splenic rupture is still not common and only 0.1% of people diagnosed with mononucleosis have this complication.