Outcome and prognostic factors for dogs with a histological diagnosis of splenic hematoma following splenectomy: 35 cases (2001-2013).

Canine splenic hematoma can be indistinguishable from hemangiosarcoma on clinical presentation and grossly at the time of surgery. However, hemangiosarcoma represents an aggressive malignancy and a misdiagnosis of hematoma would forgo indications for chemotherapy. This study describes a long-term follow-up of cases with a histologic diagnosis of splenic hematoma following splenectomy to determine if the clinical course of the disease corroborated the diagnosis. Thirty-five dogs were evaluated to determine survival and prognostic associations with signalment and clinical data. Overall median survival time was 647 days (range: 0 to 3287 days). Statistically significant variables included a palpable abdominal mass during physical examination, sub-clinical coagulopathy, and metastasis. Four cases (11%) had reported evidence of metastasis at the time of euthanasia; 1 case was histologically confirmed. Overall prognosis for splenic hematoma appears excellent, as expected, but a small proportion of cases may have an undiagnosed malignant component.