The effects of splenic artery ligation in an experimental model of secondary hypersplenism

Objective: To induce hypersplenism in rats by splenic vein ligation and to investigate the effects of splenic artery ligation in this model. Backgroun d: Selective arterial embolisation and splenic artery ligation (SAI,) are u sed in the treatment of secondary hypersplenism in some medical centres but these methods are not common. Materials and Methods: Thirty male Saprague- Dawley rats were allocated to three groups (n=10). The first group underwen t laparotomy, the second and third groups underwent laparotomy and splenic vein ligation. At the end of the third week, laparotomy was performed in th e first and second groups and splenic artery ligation in the third group. E rythrocyte, leukocyte and platelet counts were performed weekly. At the end of the sixth week, the animals were sacrificed and the spleens were taken for histopathologic examination. Results: In the second and third groups, a fter splenic vein ligation, the erythrocyte and platelet counts mere signif icantly reduced at the end of the second week (p<0.01), In the second group , which underwent splenic vein ligation only, the levels remained low throu ghout the experiment. In the third group, after splenic artery ligation, th ere were rises in both erythrocyte and platelet counts; the levels were sim ilar to the levels in the control group at three weeks after splenic artery ligation (p>0.05), No significant changes were observed in the leukocyte c ounts throughout the experiment (p>0.05), Conclusions: Splenic vein ligatio n successfully induces experimental secondary hypersplenism, This state can be ameliorated by splenic artery ligation.