title: Spleen preserving distal pancreatectomy in an isolated blunt pancreatic trauma.
abstract: Blunt isolated pancreatic trauma is uncommon, accounting for 1%-4% of high impact abdominal injuries. In addition, its diagnosis can be difficult; physical signs may be poor and laboratory findings nonspecific, resulting in delayed treatment. Preserving the spleen during distal pancreatectomy (DP) is controversial. One of the spleen's functions regards immunity; complications following splenectomy include leukocytosis, thrombocytosis, overwhelming post splenectomy sepsis and some degree of immunodeficiency. This is why many authors favor its preservation. We describe a case of a young man with an isolated pancreatic trauma due to a blunt abdominal trauma with a delayed presentation who was treated with spleen-preserving DP and we discuss the value of this procedure with reference to the literature.
authors: Alexandre Zanchenko Fonseca, Marcelo Augusto Fontenelle Ribeiro Jr, Orlando Contrucci, Alexandre Pompeo, Adriana Orsetti, Herico Arsie Neto, Department of General Surgery, University of Santo Amaro, São Paulo-SP, CEP 04601-060, Brazil.
authors: Alexandre Zanchenko
authors: AZ
authors: Fonseca
authors: Marcelo Augusto Fontenelle
authors: MAF
authors: Ribeiro
authors: Orlando
authors: O
authors: Contrucci
authors: Alexandre
authors: A
authors: Pompeo
authors: Adriana
authors: A
authors: Orsetti
authors: Herico Arsie
authors: HA
authors: Neto