BACKGROUND: To avoid asplenic state, many approaches preserving the spleen have been proposed, such as splenorraphy, partial splenectomy with hilum vessels preservation and autotransplantation. Subtotal splenectomy preserving the upper splenic pole supplied only by splenogastric vessels, is an alternative when splenic pedicle cannot be maintained. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the influence of partial, subtotal and total splenectomy on Escherichia coli distribution in mononuclear phagocyte system. METHODS: Thirty-two rats were divided into the following 4 groups: sham operation (no splenectomy), partial splenectomy, subtotal splenectomy and total splenectomy. In the fifth week postoperative, an aliquot of Escherichia coli labelled with technetium-99m was intravenously injected. After 20 minutes, the animals were killed to remove spleen, lungs and liver, in order to verify the labelled bacteria distribution. RESULTS: The amount of Escherichia coli in the splenic tissue was greater in the group with intact spleen. The bacteria uptake by the spleen was not different from partial or subtotal splenectomy groups. The amount of bacteria in the lungs was greater in the partial splenectomy group than in the subtotal group. After subtotal splenectomy, the distribution of labelled bacteria was greater in the liver than in the others all groups. CONCLUSIONS: The upper splenic pole, supplied only by splenogastric vessels, is able to remove alive bacteria from the blood stream, showing that, even in absence of splenic pedicle, blood clearance continues to be effective. The distribution of Escherichia coli in mononuclear phagocyte system shows different behaviors, depending on the type of splenectomy.
Escherichia coli; Spleen; Splenectomy; Partial splenectomy; Subtotal splenectomy; Mononuclear phagocyte system
