The role of the spleen on colonic anastomotic healing.

The role of the spleen on wound healing remains unclear. This study investigates the effect of splenectomy on the healing of colonic anastomoses. Twenty-six Wistar rats were assigned into four groups: sham, splenectomy, anastomoses, and splenectomy and anastomoses. The rats underwent a standardized left colonic resection and primary anastomoses, and/or splenectomy. Bursting pressure and hydroxyproline content were used to evaluate anastomotic healing, five days postoperatively. No differences were found in the bursting pressure and hydroxyproline content between the groups. The present results indicate that splenectomy has no negative effect on the healing of colonic anastomoses in rats.