Blunt splenic injury and severe brain injury: a decision analysis and implications for care

Abstract

Background:The initial nonoperative management (NOM) of blunt splenic injuries in hemodynamically stable patients is common. In soldiers who experience blunt splenic injuries with concomitant severe brain injury while on deployment, however, NOM may put the injured soldier at risk for secondary brain injury from prolonged hypotension. Methods:We conducted a decision analysis using a Markov process to evaluate 2 strategies for managing hemodynamically stable patients with blunt splenic injuries and severe brain injury -immediate splenectomy and NOM -in the setting of a field hospital with surgical capability but no angiography capabilities. We considered the base case of a 40-year-old man with a life expectancy of 78 years who experienced blunt trauma resulting in a severe traumatic brain injury and an isolated splenic injury with an estimated failure rate of NOM of 19.6%. The primary outcome measured was life expectancy. We assumed that failure of NOM would occur in the setting of a prolonged casualty evacuation, where surgical capability was not present. Results:Immediate splenectomy was the slightly more effective strategy, resulting in a very modest increase in overall survival compared with NOM. Immediate splenectomy yielded a survival benefit of only 0.4 years over NOM. Conclusion:In terms of overall survival, we would not recommend splenectomy unless the estimated failure rate of NOM exceeded 20%, which corresponds to an American Association for the Surgery of Trauma grade III splenic injury. For military patients for whom angiography may not be available at the field hospital and who require prolonged evacuation, immediate splenectomy should be considered for grade III-V injuries in the presence of severe brain injury.Contexte : La gestion non chirurgicale (GNC) initiale des traumatismes spléniques fermés chez les patients hémodynamiquement stables est fréquente. Toutefois, dans les cas de traumatismes spléniques fermés accompagnés de graves lésions cérébrales concomitantes durant leur déploiement, la GNC peut exposer les soldats blessés à un risque de lésion cérébrale secondaire par suite d'une hypotension prolongée.Méthodes : Nous avons appliqué un modèle de Markov à l'analyse décisionnelle pour évaluer 2 stratégies de prise en charge des patients hémodynamiquement stables porteurs de traumatismes spléniques fermés et de graves lésions cérébrales, soit la splénectomie immédiate et la GNC, dans le contexte d'un hôpital de campagne doté d'installations chirurgicales mais non d'installations angiographiques. Nous avons étudié le scénario de référence d'un homme de 40 ans ayant une espérance de vie de 78 ans, victime d'un traumatisme fermé entraînant une lésion cérébrale grave et un traumatisme splénique isolé, avec un taux estimé d'échec de la GNC de 19,6 %. Le principal paramètre mesuré était l'espérance de vie. Nous avons présumé que l'échec de la GNC surviendrait dans le contexte d'une évacuation prolongée des blessés en l'absence d'installations chirurgicales.Résultats : La splénectomie immédiate s'est...

Laparoscopic splenectomy as a definitive management option for high-grade traumatic splenic injury when non operative management is not feasible or failed: a 5-year experience from a level one trauma center with minimally invasive surgery expertise

“…Indications for splenectomy in hemodynamically noncompromised patients include blunt or penetrating splenic injury requiring surgical exploration for diaphragmatic or hollow-viscus injuries, high-grade blunt splenic injury with unavailable, contraindicated, unfeasible or unsuccessful NOM and AE and all complications following AE such as pseudoaneurysms, splenic infarction or abscess, and delayed rupture. NOM is contraindicated in patients unable or unwilling to comply with the strict NOM conduct and activity restrictions (e.g., mentally impaired, homeless, self-employed, professional athletes), as well as those with an unreliable examination typically due to associated injuries and intubation [5][6][7][8][9]. There are also contraindications to AE as an adjunct, including patients severely allergic to intravenous iodine contrast or with late stage chronic kidney disease.…”

Failure Risk Factor For Non-Operative Treatment of Splenic Trauma

“…Grade 3 or higher lesions are more at risk of NOM failure (according to AAST classi cation) (5,6,14,16,17). In AAST 4 and 5 splenic lesions, the failure rate of NOM is 54.6% (19).…”