Splenectomy in Nigerian children with sickle cell anaemia

A total of 4359 children with sickle cell anaemia were treated at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria in an eight year period 1979-1986. Of this number 4 children with hypersplenism associated with intractable complaints were offered splenectomy as the treatment of choice. Following splenectomy they had improved haematological indices and general wellbeing, but splenectomy did not abolish abdominal or bone pain crises. This study emphasizes that though splenectomy could be of beneficial effect on carefully chosen cases of hypersplenism, it has not become a major form of therapy for the majority of children with sickle cell anaemia in Nigeria.