Splenic abscess and sickle cell disease
โ Scribed by Al-Salem, Ahmed H.; Qaisaruddin, Syed; Jam'a, Ali Al; Al-Kalaf, Jaffar; El-Bashier, Ali M.
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 76 KB
- Volume
- 58
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0361-8609
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โฆ Synopsis
This is a report of our experience with 10 cases of splenic abscess in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). All presented with fever and abdominal pain and were found to have a tender enlarged spleen. Two were found to have a ruptured spleen and five of them were septicemic on presentation. Although both ultrasound and CT-scan of the abdomen were of diagnostic value, we found CT-scan more accurate and reliable in the diagnosis of splenic abscess. Ultrasound and/or CT-scan should be used routinely in the evaluation of SCD patients who present with fever and abdominal pain, especially if they have a tender enlarged spleen. Diagnostic aspiration under CT-scan or ultrasound guidance should be used in doubtful cases to differentiate between splenic abscess and a large splenic infarct. All our patients were managed by peri operative antibiotics and splenectomy with no mortality. Salmonella was the commonest causative organism. Although CT-guided aspiration of splenic abscess is being advocated recently, we feel splenectomy should be the treatment of choice in patients with SCD as there is no point in preserving a nonfunctioning spleen that is present in the majority of patients. CT-guided aspiration may be employed as a temporary measure for those patients who are at high surgical risk with unilocular abscess. Am.
๐ SIMILAR VOLUMES
Splenic abscess is an uncommon disease affecting between 0.14 and 0.7 per cent of necropsy specimens'; diagnosis is difficult and the outcome is fatal when the condition is not promptly treated. The advent of modern imaging methods has made possible early diagnosis which should lead to better result