What are the complications of splenectomy?
What are the complications of splenectomy?
Splenectomy Complications
- Blood clot in the vein that carries blood to the liver.
- Hernia at the incision site.
- Infection at the incision site.
- Inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis)
- Lung collapse.
- Injury to the pancreas, stomach, and colon.
What is the most common complication of splenectomy?
Infections, particularly pulmonary and abdominal sepsis, constitute the majority of the complications. The mortality rate from postoperative sepsis is substantial. Atelectasis, pancreatitis/fistula, pulmonary embolism and bleeding at the operative site are also relatively common occurrences following splenic removal.
What is the most common early complication of open splenectomy?
These are reported with both open and laparoscopic splenectomy. Early postoperative complications include pulmonary complications (atelectasis to pneumonia), subphrenic abscess, ileus, portal vein thrombosis, thrombocytosis, thrombotic complications, and wound complications (hematomas, seromas, and wound infections).
What are the long term effects of a splenectomy?
A recent study from a large cohort of American veterans showed an increased risk of death due to septicemia, pulmonary embolism, coronary artery disease and cancer more than 10 years after splenectomy.
Why does splenectomy increased risk of infection?
The factors responsible for an increased incidence of infection and propensity for severity following a splenectomy include insufficient opsonizing filter function of the spleen, delayed and impaired production of immunoglobulin (Ig), lack of splenic macrophages, and minimal tufts production [5].
Why does splenectomy cause increased platelets?
The early, highly significant thrombocytosis, following both splenectomy and general surgery, is caused by increased production of platelets due to the surgical trauma. This is caused by a direct action on bone marrow MK by transforming 2N-8N MK into higher ploidy classes.
Are splenectomy patients immunocompromised?
1,2 Patients who have had a splenectomy or have functional asplenia are immunocompromised and are at increased risk for severe and overwhelming bacterial infections, particularly from encapsulated bacteria.
Which organism causes infection after splenectomy?
Overwhelming post-splenectomy infection is usually caused by the encapsulated bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Neisseria meningitidis and more than half of those infected die.
Can splenectomy cause elevated WBC?
Background: The White Blood Cell (WBC) and Platelet (PLT) counts typically increase after a splenectomy. These changes make interpretation of postoperative lab values difficult and may unduly raise concerns for complications.
Can splenectomy patients have Covid vaccine?
COVID-19 vaccines are not contraindicated and should be encouraged for patients who have had a splenectomy or who have functional asplenia, including those who have had COVID-19 infection.
Does Covid affect spleen?
Conclusion: Our study indicates that spleen size increases slightly-moderately in the first stages of the infection, and this increase is correlated with the COVID-19 severity score calculated on the chest CT data, and in this respect, it is similar to infections presenting with cytokine storm.
Why are splenectomy patients at risk of infection?
Splenectomized patients are a significant infection risk, because the spleen is the largest accumulation of lymphoid tissue in the body [1]. The spleen has an abundance of lymphoid tissue, including splenic macrophages that attack encapsulated organisms.
