Laparoscopic splenectomy: single-centre experience of a district general hospital

We report the results of 20 consecutive laparoscopic splenectomies performe d on haematology patients for a number of indications. Our series includes patients up to 77 years of age at the time of surgery and removal of spleen s weighing up to 3530g. The most significant benefit is the early rate of d ischarge post-operatively (median 2 d); however, there is a risk of convers ion to open laparotomy (in this series 3/20, 15%). We show that laparoscopi c splenectomy can be offered as a therapeutic option to patients unfit for conventional laparotomy and that even large and bulky spleens can be remove d safely using this approach.