Darren and - splenectomy info

March 16, 2005

Hi Darren,

I would be happy to send you the full documents that I am able to

download. So far I have only found the one that I mentioned in

the previous post. It seems that most of the information that has

been published refers to splenectomies associated with

cancers and blood disorders (as well as trauma). But I would

think that a loss of a spleen and its complications would be

similar for whatever reason it has been removed. In order to

send you the documents I will need your full email address. Mine

is goutbuster@... and if you want to email me yours

privately, feel free to do so.

Darren and ,

In the meantime, here is a paragraph that I just read from a

textbook on Cancer. I thought it is relevant to the discussion:

" Even after curative therapy for the underlying disease, the lack of

a spleen predisposes such patients to rapidly fatal infections.

The loss of the spleen through trauma similarly predisposes the

normal host to overwhelming infection for as long as 25 years

after splenectomy. The splenectomized patient should be

counseled about the risks of infection with certain organisms,

such as the protozoan Babesia (Chap. 195) and

Capnocytophaga canimorsus (formerly dysgonic fermenter 2, or

DF-2), a bacterium carried in the mouths of animals (Chap. 131).

Since encapsulated bacteria (Streptococcus pneumoniae,

Haemophilus influenzae, and Neisseria meningitidis) are the

organisms most commonly associated with postsplenectomy

sepsis, splenectomized persons should be vaccinated (and

revaccinated; Table 72-2) against the capsular polysaccharides

of these organisms. Many clinicians recommend giving

splenectomized patients a small supply of antibiotics effective

against S. pneumoniae, N. meningitidis, and H. influenzae to

avert rapid, overwhelming sepsis in the event that they cannot

present for medical attention immediately after the onset of fever

or other symptoms of bacterial infection "

This information is taken from ons Textbook of Medicine -

online.

laurie

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