• Megan Halliday, Jared Ingersoll, and John Alex.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Portsmouth, VA, USA.
• Mil Med. 2020 Dec 30; 185 (11-12): e2918-e2200.

AbstractWe discuss a 23-year-old active duty male who presented to the emergency department with left shoulder pain after deadlifting heavy weights the day prior. His physical examination revealed a nontender and otherwise unremarkable left shoulder with full range of motion and mild tenderness to palpation in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen. A bedside focused assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST) examination showed free fluid in the abdomen and a computed tomography scan showed a splenic laceration and splenomegaly. He later tested positive for infectious mononucleosis. This is the first case report of atraumatic splenic laceration after heavy weight lifting. This case illustrates the importance of a broad differential and high index of suspicion in the patient with undifferentiated abdominal pain in order to diagnose a potentially fatal disease.Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2020. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

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