The
wandering spleen, wandering liver, and wandering kidney are rare diagnoses that can be asymptomatic or are associated with nonspecific symptoms, making the clinical diagnosis elusive. In addition, given the small number of cases, these conditions are not well understood. Major complications of
wandering spleen result from torsion of the vascular pedicle with resultant
ischemia, physiologic dysfunction, and/or
infarction. Wandering liver is commonly associated with bowel obstruction, particularly colonic
volvulus, with very rare reports of hepatic
ischemia or
infarct. Wandering kidneys are not commonly associated with serious complications. In many cases, the
wandering spleen, liver or kidney can be found in their anatomic position on static imaging and are only diagnosed during ultrasound or with serial radiographic or cross-sectional imaging with different
patient positioning, or with prior studies demonstrating different locations of the involved organ. Treatment approaches for uncomplicated
wandering spleen, liver, or kidney include watchful waiting and splenopexy, hepatopexy, or nephropexy, respectively. Complicated
wandering spleens are treated with
splenectomy. Given the variable clinical presentation of these conditions, imaging plays a pivotal role in diagnosing these rare and often incidentally discovered phenomena.