Treatment of multiple aneurysms of the splenic artery after liver transplantation by percutaneous embolization and laparoscopic splenectomy.

A high incidence of aneurysms of the splenic artery is found in liver transplant patients. Their significance is related to the risk of rupture, particularly in the postoperative period. Classically, their management is surgical, with ligation or resection of the aneurysmal arterial segment with or without splenectomy, depending on the location of the aneurysm. Recently, laparoscopy and percutaneous embolization have appeared as alternative treatment options. We describe here the treatment of multiple aneurysms of the splenic artery in a patient who had undergone liver transplantation 10 years earlier. She was treated with percutaneous embolization of the aneurysms followed by laparoscopic splenectomy. To our knowledge, this is the first report of laparoscopic splenectomy following liver transplantation. It demonstrates that prior liver transplantation does not represent an absolute contraindication to minimally invasive surgery.

Duke Scholars

Author Debra L Sudan Surgery, Abdominal Transplant Surgery