Splenectomy in mild hereditary spherocytosis: is it worth the risk?

Patients with mild hereditary spherocytosis (HS) often undergo splenectomy for the sole purpose of preventing gallstone formation. Splenectomy carries a surgical risk as well as the risk of postsplenectomy sepsis. Gallstones develop in less than half of mild HS patients and do not always cause symptomatic biliary tract disease. Using decision analysis, a quantitative approach to problem solving under conditions of uncertainty, we have compared the likelihood of surviving the complications of gallstones with the likelihood of surviving routine splenectomy. Probability figures for critical events were obtained from the medical literature; final outcome is recovery (utility = 1.0) or death (utility = 0.0). Our analysis shows that expectant management of gallstones is the preferred choice, being associated with a higher utility than is routine splenectomy (0.9980 vs 0.9755, respectively). The utility values for the two choices become equivalent only when the risk of postsplenectomy sepsis is lowered from 0.022 to 0.0001.