Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Blood and bacteria changes in dogs after spleen removal surgery
By Richardson, E F & Brown, N O·Published in Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association·1996·Animal Medical Center, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Hematological and biochemical changes and results of aerobic bacteriological culturing in dogs undergoing splenectomy.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs undergoing splenectomy (surgery to remove the spleen) had their blood and bacteria levels checked before and after the procedure. While some dogs developed fevers a few days after surgery, the study found that most blood tests showed normal results, and the bacteria found in cultures did not seem to directly relate to the fevers. This suggests that dogs with existing splenic disease may not show typical changes in their blood work after surgery. Overall, the dogs did not have significant complications related to their blood counts or bacterial infections following the splenectomy.
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Abstract
Changes in complete blood count (CBC), bone marrow, reticulocyte count, coagulation profile, biochemical analysis, and serum iron, transferrin, and immunoglobulin M (IgM) concentrations were measured three and 10 days after splenectomy in 12 dogs. Spleens were cultured aerobically for bacteria and submitted for histopathological evaluation in 23 dogs undergoing splenectomy. There were no consistent changes in red blood cell (RBC), white blood cell (WBC), or platelet counts; bone-marrow samples; or biochemical profiles. Serum iron, transferrin, and IgM concentrations remained normal. Eight (35%) bacterial cultures yielded growth. Five of the 23 dogs had pyrexic episodes two-to-five days after surgery. In contrast to previous reports done on healthy dogs, this study shows that dogs with splenic disease have no characteristic changes in hematological or biochemical parameters after splenectomy. Rather, the changes tended to reflect the primary disease process. Splenic vascular compromise or a decrease in processing of bacteria may have resulted in the bacterial growth. There was no direct correlation to pyrexic postoperative episodes.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8731133/