AI Article Synopsis
- Post-splenectomy patients face an increased risk of serious infections known as overwhelming post-splenectomy infection (OPSI), which can lead to high mortality rates.
- A case study details an elderly man who experienced septic shock and died shortly after being admitted to the ICU, highlighting the dangers of OPSI following a splenectomy.
- Physicians should be vigilant in monitoring these patients for potential rapid declines in health due to compromised immune response and educate them about the risks of severe infections.
Article Abstract
Post-splenectomy patients are at increased risk of infection. This complication is called overwhelming post-splenectomy infection (OPSI), which is uncommon but has high mortality. We describe a case of a man in his 80s who presented with septic shock with purpura fulminans caused by pyelonephritis. He had undergone a splenectomy in his 50s and had been taking prednisolone for the past six months for suspected immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4)-related disease. He was admitted to the intensive care unit but died the day after admission. OPSI is generally caused by encapsulated bacteria. However, in the present case, the causative agent was , a bacterium that typically causes urinary tract infections. Post-splenectomy patients are known to have compromised bacterial clearance, and accumulation of bacteria such as can induce acute sepsis after splenectomy. Thus, physicians must have a high index of suspicion when treating splenectomy patients for the possibility that they may rapidly deteriorate to severe conditions such as OPSI, and the patients must be informed about the risk of severe infections, which can be fatal.
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10439669 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.42184 | DOI Listing |
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