Hi all. I am very glad to have found this thread. I live in Sydney, Australia. I am 49. 7 weeks ago I had the sudden onset of central abdominal pain and left rib pain shooting through to the middle of the back. When it didn’t go away after four days, I went to the hospital and was diagnosed with a 2cm celiac artery aneurysm extending into the splenic artery with splenic infarction with associated clot and inflammation. They told me it was extremely rare and it seemed they did not know what to do. First I was told I would have a stent then they told me that the stent could throw emboli off the clot into the liver resulting in liver failure. They now are saying it will need some type of operation. Despite acknowledging that it was rare and they had never seen it before, they confidently told me that the pain would resolve in 2 weeks. It hasn’t. The pain is across the left ribs, that is from the spleen. On the right ribs and abdomen it is likely from the liver. It is usually through to the back too. As reported by others here, I feel exhausted and often need to lie down in a certain position to alleviate the pain. Some days I feel better and start to do things only to feel wiped out and in pain three hours later. I was told that over the long term the risk of rupture is about 40% hence the need for surgery soon.

I have been surprised by the similarity in accounts of this illness on this thread, particularly given the medical profession doesn’t know much about it. It is pretty frightening with such little knowledge but then reassuring that the experiences are so consistent.

Thanks for your posts about your experiences

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