Management of splenic trauma in the pediatric hemophiliac patient: Case series and review of the literature

Abstract

In July and August 1998, 3 patients who attend the Hemophilia Treatment Center required emergency admission to the authors' hospital for management of hemorrhagic shock caused by splenic injury. Computed tomography was used to diagnose and grade the splenic injuries, which ranged from II to IV on the organ injury scale. Two patients had Christmas disease (Factor IX deficiency) and were treated with splenorrhaphy and factor IX replacement. One patient who has severe von Willebrand disease (Type 3) had grade II splenic injury that required splenectomy to secure hemostasis. The coagulopathic deficiency was aggressively treated in each patient. All patients required operative intervention with attempted splenorrhaphy. All patients survived their operative experience, and none suffered a rebleeding episode. With correction of the coagulopathy throughout the perioperative period and local hemostatic control by operative techniques, salvage procedures for splenic injury were successful for 2 of these 3 patients. J Pediatr Surg 37:568-571. Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.