• Despina Kotsanas, Mohammed H Al-Souffi, Bruce P Waxman, Richard W F King, Kevan R Polkinghorne, and Ian J Woolley.
• Department of Infectious Diseases, Monash Medical Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. despina.kotsanas@southernhealth.org.au
• ANZ J Surg. 2006 Jul 1;76(7):542-7.

BackgroundVaccination, education and use of long-term antibiotics are recommended in expert guidelines for the prevention of infectious complications after splenectomy. However, studies outside Australia have shown poor adherence to the guidelines.MethodThe aim of this study was to determine overall adherence to the guidelines and to ascertain any independent risk factors for poor compliance with the guidelines. A retrospective review of hospital records between 1999 and 2004 was carried out.ResultsIndications for splenectomy of the 111 patients in this review included post-trauma (32), haematological (32), cancer surgery (24), iatrogenic (12) and others (11). On multivariable analysis, age was associated with a 28% less likelihood to receive education (odds ratio (OR) 0.72; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.56-0.92; P = 0.009) and 36% less likelihood to receive long-term antibiotics (OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.52-0.80; P < or = 0.001). Women were four times more likely to receive education (OR 4.03; 95% CI 1.16-14.0; P = 0.028) and patients who had undergone splenectomy in 2004 were 22 times more likely to have received education compared with those in 1999 (OR 22.53; 95% CI 3.12-162.34; P = 0.002).ConclusionEducation for prevention of sepsis after splenectomy is poorly documented and may be incomplete. Older age and male sex are risk factors in non-adherence to guidelines for prevention of postsplenectomy sepsis. Strategies such as alert cards and information brochures may improve adherence to guidelines particularly in older patients.

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