major indications for splenectomy
Last reviewed 01/2018
To control or stage basic disease:
- immune haemolytic anaemia
- immune thrombocytopenia
- hereditary spherocytosis
- rarely, Hodgkin's disease
To correct chronic or severe hypersplenism:
- hairy cell leukaemia
- myeloid metaplasia
- Felty's syndrome
- Gaucher's disease
- splenic vein thrombosis
- splenomegaly due to haemolysis
The indications for splenectomy are becoming rarer as non-invasive diagnostic procedures and medical management improve, and in most of these cases there are a variety of medical managements to consider first.