Objective To study the anatomical basis and clinical causes of splenic infarction with an attempt to improve on the diagnosis and treatment of splenic infarction.Methods This study was conducted on 11 patients with splenic infarction seen in our hospital from December 2003 to September 2012,131 patients with a clinical diagnosis and treatment reported in the literature since 1999,and 25 adult cadavers showing the anatomy of the splenic arteries with an aim to find out the causes of splenic infarction.Results The clinical data showed that splenic infarction occurred more commonly in patients 60 years of age or older (73％ vs 27％,P＜0.05),and in males more than in females (62％ vs 38％,P＜0.05).The diagnosis was first made significantly more often by physicians than by surgeons 88/32 (79％ vs 21％,P＜0.05).The anatomical data showed that the majority of the splenic arteries in the 25 adult cadavers was curved.Conclusions The clinical manifestations of splenic infarction easily led to a misdiagnosis.Improvement in the diagnosis and treatment of splenic infarction would depend on the clinical awareness of this condition,the prothrombotic state detection and the implementation of timely and standardized treatment.