Tropical Doctor > Volume 38, Number 4 > Pp. 210-213

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kuzma, J. Articles by Atua, V. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Social Bookmarking                      What's this?

Articles

Conservative management of splenic injury in the tropics

Jerzy Kuzma MD PhD      Vincent Atua MBBS  

Modilon General Hospital and Faculty of Health Science of Divine Word University, Madang, Papua New Guinea

Correspondence to: J Kuzma, Modilon General Hospital and Faculty of Health Science of Divine Word University, PO Box 483, Madang, Papua New Guinea Email: jkuzma{at}dg.com.pg

We undertook this study in order to determine whether the conservative management of splenic injuries is a safe practice in a low-volume tropical hospital. We evaluated 69 consecutive patients with splenic injury prospectively. The outcome measures were morbidity and mortality rates, overall hospital stay and blood transfusion requirements. Spleen preservation was achieved in 85% (59) of cases. Of the 16 patients who underwent splenic surgery, six had splenorraphy (38%). The overall mortality was 4.3% (3) and the deaths were not related to the conservative management. Our findings suggest that not only is the conservative management of splenic injuries safe, but also that the repair of an enlarged spleen (splenorrhaphy) is safe and feasible in tropical hospital settings. The findings in this study provide further evidence that the conservative management of splenic injury in a tropical hospital without computed tomography scan is a safe practice.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?