FURTHER EXPERIENCE OF HYPOSPLENISM IN INFLAMMATORY BOWEL-DISEASE

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 50  (200) , 463-471
Abstract
The association between hyposplenism and inflammatory bowel disease was reported previously. This study has now been extended to a total of 65 patients with ulcerative colitis and 42 with Crohn''s disease, so that the incidence of hyposplenism could be more accurately determined. Hyposplenism rarely complicated distal ulcerative colitis but was found in 15 of 37 patients with total colonic disease. Hyposplenism occurred in 11 of 31 patients with Crohn''s disease of the colon but in none of 11 individuals with isolated ileal disease. To determine whether hyposplenism has any prognostic implications, the peri-operative course of 12 hyposplenic individuals who underwent colectomy was compared with that of 12 controls who required surgery and who had normal splenic function. Four of the hyposplenic subjects became severely shocked after operation and developed disseminated intravascular coagulation. The postoperative course in the control patients was uneventful.