Measurement of Normal Spleen in Pediatrics Using Ultrasonography

Abstract

This was a cross-sectional descriptive study counted out at Omdurman pediatric Hospital from January to July 2019, which aims to evaluate the spleen size in pediatric. 70 subjects were enrolled in the study; persons who referred to ultrasound department for abdomen ultrasound were included. Any person suspected with abnormal splenic measurement by ultrasound examination was excluded .The population of this study includes (35 males and 35 females) aged (1 – 16 years) Trans- abdominal scanning was done for all cases using ESAOTI Ultrasound machine with curve linear probe (3.5 MHz). Data collected using a special data collection sheet designed to assess the child's age, weight and height, spleen dimension (length width and thickness). The result of the study revealed that the splenic measurements were (length 6.92 ± 1.63176 cm, width 3.1716 ± 0.711 cm and thickness 2.64 ± 0.55 cm, a roughly linear correlation between splenic length and age (r = 0.7) was found for the total group of children. Likewise, good correlation was found between splenic length and patient’s height (r = 0.7) and weight (r = 0.68). No statistically significant difference was seen between boys and girls, where males had slightly longer spleens than females, generally correlating with their larger size overall. Determination of pathologic changes in size of spleen necessitates knowing the normal range of dimensions in healthy neonates, infants, and children. Presented data are applicable in daily routine Sonography. Body height should be considered the best criteria to correlate with longitudinal dimensions of the spleen.