Leandros Emmanuel, Alexakis Nicholas, Albanopoulos Konstadinos, Dardamanis Dimitris, Karagiorga Markisia, Gomatos Ilias, Papadopoulos Stefanos, Bacoyiannis Christos, Bramis John
First Department of Propedeutic Surgery, University of Athens, Hippokration Hospital, 114 V Sofias Avenue, Athens, 11527, Greece.
World J Surg. 2006 Jul;30(7):1216-20. doi: 10.1007/s00268-005-0542-7.
beta-Thalassemia patients have splenomegaly significant enough to require splenectomy; furthermore, these patients also often require concurrent procedures.
Between January and October 2005, seven patients with beta-thalassemia underwent hand-assisted laparoscopic splenectomy with cholecystectomy, appendectomy, and liver biopsy with the hand-port device introduced through a Pfannenstiel incision.
The median age of the patients was 28 years, and the median spleen length was 23 cm. The median operating time was 210 minutes; there were no conversions to an open procedure; and the median spleen weight was 1072 g. One major postoperative complication occurred. The median hospital stay was 6 days.
The proposed hand-assisted laparoscopic approach is safe and feasible. It provides a minimally invasive alternative that may become the treatment of choice in beta-thalassemia patients who require concurrent operations.
