Conservative surgery for splenic injuries

Abstract

Splenectomy for traumatic injury of the spleen has recently been questioned, due to the occurrence of postsplenectomy sepsis. During the past year we have operated on six children with splenic injuries and, by utilizing different surgical manuevers, have successfully reserved all or part of the spleen. The following report describes the management of these children and the operative techniques that allow the injured spleen to be salvaged.