Outcomes of laparoscopic splenectomy in benign hematologic and splenic diseases in children

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of laparoscopic splenectomy (LS) in the management of benign hematologic and splenic diseases in children. Patients and methods: Thirty-eight patients, with the mean age of 10.4±4.3 years, underwent LS between May 2010 and November 2014; out of them, 92.1% suffered from benign hematologic diseases and 7.9% suffered from benign splenic diseases. The indication of splenectomy was different according to the underlying disease. Results: The rate of conversion to open surgery was 5.2% and to hand-assisted procedure was 7.8%. The mean operative time was 148.4±26.7?min and the mean duration of hospital stay was 4.5±1.6 days. Five (13.1%) patients had accessory spleen diagnosed and removed successfully and one patient was diagnosed with missed accessory spleen. Postoperative complications were observed in five (13.1%) patients, which are wound infection (one patient), incisional hernia (one patient), upper respiratory tract infection (two patients), and missed accessory spleen (one patient). No mortality was reported in the study. Conclusion: LS is well tolerated and effective in the management of benign hematologic and splenic diseases. It has many advantages over open surgery and should be the standard option in the surgical treatment of such cases.