Improved survival rate for intraperitoneal autotransplantation of the spleen following pneumococcal pneumonia.

One hundred and ten Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups: 1, sham control; 2, splenectomy; 3, splenectomy and implantation of diced splenic tissue among the leaves of the small intestinal mesentery, and 4, splenectomy and intraportal injection of emulsified splenic tissue. Twelve weeks postoperatively, all of the rats were challenged with Type III Streptococcus pneumoniae by transtracheal injection. Rats with intraportal splenic autotransplants had an early mortality significantly higher than that of asplenic rats. Rats with small intestinal mesentery implants had a mortality not significantly different from that of sham control rats but significantly lower than that of rats that underwent splenectomy. Thus, intraperitoneal splenic autotransplantation provides a protective effect against postsplenectomy pulmonary sepsis and serves as a method for preservation of splenic function.