Splenectomy indications and postoperative follow-up results of a department of general surgery

Abstract

Aim: Splenectomy is commonly performed in many centers around the world for the treatment of various benign, malign diseases and trauma nowadays. The purpose of this study is to determine the indications in patients undergoing splenectomy in a general surgery department for five years and to investigate the mortality rate and reasons. Material and Methods: Data of the study were obtained retrospectively by scanning records of patients over the age of 18 who underwent open splenectomy in the general surgery department between December2012 and December2017. Demographic data, duration of hospitalization, distribution of emergency and elective operations, main reasons and indications of splenectomy, operation components, histopathological results, the survey of patients and mortality rate were investigated. Results: 55,4% (n=31) female, 44,6% male, total 56 patients were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 50.5±22,6. The mean duration of hospitalization was 9±7 days. 71.4%of the patients were operated under elective conditions and 28.6%of the patients were operated under urgent conditions. Splenectomy was done for the reason of carcinoma in 34.2% of patients, traumatic splenic injury in 19.4%, splenic cyst or abscess in 16.2%, coagulopathy in 12.6%, iatrogenic splenic injury in 5.4%, lymphoma in 3.6%, splenomegaly associated with portal hypertension in 3.6%, fibrosarcoma in 1.8%, idiopathic splenomegaly in 1.8%. Conclusion: Splenectomy is performed in general surgery departments due to traumatic and non-traumatic indications. Mortality due to pure splenic pathologies is uncommon and quite rare. However, mortality caused by other operations and diseases in patients who underwent splenectomy is quite high.