Morbidity of hand-assisted laparoscopic splenectomy compared to conventional laparoscopic splenectomy: a 6-year review.

Background: Laparoscopic splenectomy (LS) has several advantages over the open procedure but can be technically demanding when performed in patients with massive splenomegaly. We hypothesized that patients who undergo hand-assisted LS (HALS) may experience the benefits of LS while having their enlarged spleens removed safely.

Methods: We reviewed the charts of patients who underwent HALS or LS between January 2003 and June 2008. Evaluated parameters included intraoperative and early postoperative morbidity and mortality, conversion to open surgery, need for blood transfusion, length of postoperative hospital stay, patient demographics, diagnosis leading to splenectomy, splenic weight and number of postoperative days to resuming normal diet. Differences were analyzed while controlling for splenic weight and malignant diagnosis using multiple linear and logistic regression analysis.

Results: In all, 103 patients underwent splenectomy (23 HALS, 80 LS). Patients who had HALS were older and had larger spleens, and a greater proportion had malignant diagnoses. We observed no significant differences in morbidity, conversion to open surgery or need for blood transfusion. The mean length of postoperative stay, duration of surgery and days to resuming full diet were longer in the HALS group. No patients died. No group differences were significant after controlling for splenic weight and malignant diagnosis.

Conclusion: The morbidity associated with HALS is comparable to that with LS. The longer duration of surgery and hospital stay for HALS patients was likely related to greater splenic weight, older age and greater proportion of malignant diagnoses. Hand-assisted LS is a viable alternative to open surgery in patients with massive spleens.