Splenectomy for haematological diseases.

Two hundred patients with various haematological diseases underwent splenectomy between 1974 and 1986. The diagnoses were: Hodgkin's disease (n = 76), hairy cell leukaemia (n = 25), idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (n = 20), chronic lymphatic leukaemia (n = 19), haemolytic anaemia (n = 18), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (n = 16), myelofibrosis (n = 10), chronic myeloid leukaemia (n = 6), spherocytosis (n = 4), and miscellaneous (n = 6). Many of the patients were treated with corticosteroids and in poor general condition, partly as a result of chemotherapy. There were 37 postoperative complications in 29 patients (14.5%); two died, both of septicaemia. Pneumonia, bleeding, and wound infection were the most common complications, occurring in 9, 8, and 6 patients, respectively. Twelve patients required reoperation, eight for bleeding, two for intra-abdominal abscesses, and one each for pancreatitis and bowel perforation. There was no association between the diagnosis and the type of postoperative complication, but patients whose spleens weighed more than 2 kg had an increased incidence of postoperative complications (30%). We conclude that elective splenectomy is a safe treatment for haematological diseases, even in high risk patients.