[Risk of infection following splenectomy].

The problem of a reduced resistance against infections in splenectomized patients is again described on the occasion of one patient who died within a very short time after the beginning of a severe infection. A retrospective study of 150 patients without spleen showed that 2.6% died in a consequence of a severe infection. From the surviving patients 20% complained of very frequent infections. Immunological laboratory data as well as the reaction against recall antigens were reduced in those patients. So not all patients without spleen bear a high risk with regard to severe infections. In spite of this fact surgeons should try to preserve the spleen even in adults.