0 a medical operation to remove the spleen (= an organ near the stomach that produces and cleans blood):
Patients who have undergone a splenectomy are more prone to infections.
The coverage indicates the percentage of patients vaccinated in the same year as the splenectomy.
If hypersplenism (of whatever aetiology) appears to be a major cause of anaemia, splenectomy should be considered.
The important point in this patient's history is the knowledge of her splenectomy.
This is confirmed by the multivariate analysis, which showed that undergoing a splenectomy before 2001 entailed a greater risk of no vaccination.
She underwent splenectomy 3 years ago and her platelet count became normal.
Mandatory hospital admission of patients undergoing splenectomy offers a good opportunity for vaccination of these patients.
As splenectomy requires hospitalization, a policy of vaccinating patients during their hospital stay is the key to fulfilling current recommendations on preventive vaccinations.
If the autoantibody is cold-reacting, avoidance of exposure to low temperatures is generally the most effective therapy, since corticosteroids and splenectomy are generally ineffective in chronic cold autoimmune haemolysis.
