Preservation of the injured spleen.
Experience with suture repair of splenic lacerations in 14 children and 8 adults is reported. The youngest patient was 3 days old and the oldest 60 years. Adequate healing was confirmed by postoperative splenic scans with or without arteriography. The 2 deaths in this series were not related to the splenic repair and were due to associated major injuries. The course of illness in the remaining 20 survivors did not reveal a failure of this technique or a complication related to the use of this conservative approach. It is expected that salvage of the traumatized spleen will eliminate the risk of fulminant postoperative infections that may be fatal.
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008722:Methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D013154:Spleen / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery; D013536:Suture Techniques