A comparison was made between the results of splenectomy performed on 19 children with thalassemia major, who were operated on after the signs of hypersplenism and hemosiderosis appeared, and on 25 children (11 with thalassemia Hb E disease and 14 with thalassemia major), who splenectomized indication of increased blood requirement only, before signs of hypersplenism or hemosiderosis appeared.From the results, it can be concluded that splenectomy should be performed as soon as increased transfusion requirement appears, before hypersplenism Or hemosiderosis becomes apparent. Due to high frequency of postsplenectomy infections, it is still preferable to operate the child after 2 years of age.