First full laparoscopic splenectomy at the Medicover Hospital

07.09.2016
A full laparoscopic splenectomy is a complex procedure that is very rarely performed at private medical facilities. Towards the end of August the first was successfully carried out at the Medicover Hospital.
First full laparoscopic splenectomy at the Medicover Hospital
The spleen is an organ with many important functions, but one can function completely normally without it. Removal of the spleen, called full splenectomy, is performed when this organ is damaged, for example as a result of injury, and starts to bleed into the abdominal cavity, or in patients with haematological diseases, e.g. thrombocytopenia. “It is rarely performed in adults in connection with cysts. In the entirety of the medical literature, only 800 similar cases are mentioned, but it was this fairly rare pathology that we needed to deal with,” says Professor Maciej Kielar, Head of the Surgery Clinic at the Medicover Hospital and leader of the surgical team.

The medical literature presents similar cases that were treated with traditional surgery. Over the past 10 years, minimally invasive surgeries with video cameras have become increasingly popular. The surgeons at the Medicover Hospital chose laparoscopy as their method. “A traditional splenectomy would not only mean a lengthy recovery, taking a few weeks, but would also require an incision to be made across the entire abdomen, which would leave a large scar: a defect that our 22-year-old patient would have found difficult to accept,” says Professor Maciej Kielar. “That is one of the reasons why we decided to opt for laparoscopy. It not only guaranteed less postoperative pain, but also a quicker recovery and much smaller scars. There are only three traces on the patient’s abdomen, the largest of which is only 4 cm across. The patient was discharged after only two days,” he added.

Date added 07.09.2016
Data ostatniej aktualizacji 15.01.2019