Splenectomy: Does it help in patients with thalassemia major

Objective: to determine the benefits of elective splenectomy in selected patients with thalassemia major. study design: prospective descriptive study. place of study: liaquat university hospital jamshoro. duration of study: july 2014 to june 2015. patients and methods: 27 selected patients of thalassemia major were evaluated after open elective splenectomy via midline incision for the benefits achieved post operatively. results: out of 27 patients 19 (70.3%) were male and 08(29.6%) were female,age ranges from 5-10 years with a mean age of 7 years. out of 27 patients,25 patients (81.48%) had a uneventful recovery,only 2 patients (7.4%) developed post-operative complications. no mortality was observed in this series. post-operative long term maintenance of adequate hemoglobin and improved quality of life was observed in 26(96.29%) patients. only 1(3.7%) patient who developed postoperative incisional hernia was not satisfied with the procedure. conclusion: we conclude that splenectomy is a safe and beneficial procedure in selected patients of thalassemia major. © 2017,liaquat university of medical and health sciences. all rights reserved.