[Spleen injuries during colorectal carcinoma surgery. Effect on the early postoperative result]

Unlike gastric carcinomas, the consequences of spleen damage during operative treatment of colorectal carcinoma have barely been investigated, as splenectomy is not performed on these tumor patients to extend the radicality. In this context, the only interest is in the iatrogenic intraoperative spleen lesions, which make a splenectomy necessary or require reconstructive spleen preservation.

During the study period from January 2000 to the end of December 2004 the perioperative data of a prospective multicenter observational study of 46,682 Patients whose tumor had been removed with a curative or palliative intent were analyzed with respect to the early postoperative consequences of an iatrogenic spleen lesion.

Of these 46,682 Patients, 640 (1.4%) suffered an iatrogenic spleen injury during the operative therapy. The spleens of 127 Patients (0.3%) were removed and the spleens of 513 Patients (1.1%) could be left in situ following repair. In more than 80% of the cases with an iatrogenic spleen injury, the tumor was localized in the left colon and in the rectum. Logistic regression analysis showed that the decisive risk factor for this organ lesion was the mobilization of the left colonic flexure with tumor localization in the left colon and rectum. Following spleen lesion a significantly higher morbidity rate was registered (47.2% following splenectomy, 48.5% following spleen repair) compared to patients without spleen injury (36.5%). Anastomotic leaks requiring surgery were most frequently observed following splenectomy (7.9%) but this was significantly lower following spleen preservation (3.3%, p = 0.003). The total hospital mortality was 3.1%. In patients with splenectomy the hospital mortality was 11.8% and subsequent repair with organ preservation was 4.7% (p < 0.0001).

Iatrogenic spleen lesions during colorectal carcinoma surgery represent a significant risk factor for a poor early postoperative result. In particular, this concerns the high rate of anastomotic leaks and infectious septic complications. This also leads to a higher rate of total morbidity and hospital mortality. By comparison significantly worse postoperative results were found in the group of splenectomised patients compared to the group with organ preservation through repair of the injured spleen.