1 Mar 2005Article
Iatrogenic splenic injuries
Alessandro Falsetto 1Marcello Corte 1Vito Pascale 1Giuseppe Surfaro 1Antonio Cennamo 1
Affiliations
Article Info
1 D. As. di Chirurgia Generale ed Emergenza Chirurgica, II Università degli Studi di Napoli
Ann. Ital. Chir., 2005, 76(2), 175-181;
Published: 1 Mar 2005
Copyright © 2005 Annali Italiani di Chirurgia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Inadvertent intraoperative injuries to the spleen by the surgical team represent an underestimated complication of many abdominal procedures. Surgical reports often lack the necessary details and frequently a clear justification as why a splenectomy was indicated is not provided. The wide variability of the incidence reported in literature makes it is difficult to evaluate the morbidity and mortality associated to these injuries and to assess the early and late consequences of this complication, although it is still possible to infer some of the reasons for these inconsistencies and to roughly estimate both clinical and socio-economical effects of this injury. Given the degree of uncertainty on the incidence of iatrogenic and traumatic splenic injuries and on the immediate and long-term sequelae suffered by asplenic patients, we thought that a multicentric prospective study was warranted. We are therefore announcing the start of a study involving several Institutions within the Regione Campania, aimed at obtaining an unbiased estimate of the incidence of these injuries, together with the extent and severity of their long term complications. We also aim to help promoting a more effective prevention.
Keywords
- Iatrogenic Splenic Injury
- Incidental Splenectomy
- OPSI