Ligation of the splenic artery; effects on the injured spleen and its function.

Treatment of splenic trauma by ligating the splenic artery was studied on 28 dogs. Bleeding was arrested, and the animals under experimentation tolerated the ligation of the splenic artery without complications. The histology of the spleen showed no abnormalities 2 mo after the experiment. The traumatized area of the spleen had healed. The platelets and reticulocytes were temporarily increased. The hemotocrit values, WBC counts, and serum immunoglobulin M, remained within normal levels. Bone marrow smears, and scintigrams of the spleen were normal. Ligation of the splenic artery, combined with splenorrhaphy, was also successfully used in children with splenic trauma involving major segmental vessels.