Laparoscopic splenectomy aided by balloon occlusion of the splenic artery: report of a case.

Laparoscopic splenectomy often involves difficulties in patients with splenomegaly because of a poor visual field and distorted and enlarged vessels secondary to the enlarged spleen. For safe and efficient laparoscopic splenectomy, we performed balloon occlusion of the splenic artery with the interventional angiographic technique in a patient with hereditary spherocytosis and splenomegaly. This new approach may be useful in terms of safety and time savings, especially in patients with splenomegaly.