Conservative treatment of splenic injuries

Thirty patients with splenic injury have been treated at Danderyd Hospital 1969-1984. All the 18 patients with splenic trauma treated until 1978 underwent splenectomy. Of the 12 patients with verified splenic injury after 1979 only six were splenectomized, two underwent laparotomy without splenectomy and four were treated nonoperatively. Thus, in half of the patients where a spleen preserving treatment was tried the spleen could be saved. A retrospective study of the previous 18 patients indicates that about the same proportion of spleen saving treatment would have been possible.