Ultrasound-guided percutaneous injection of ethanolamine oleate for hypersplenism. An experimental study in dogs.

In order to evaluate a possible therapy for hypersplenism, an experiment with animals was done. In nine dogs, 0.6 ml/kg body weight of 5% ethanolamine oleate was injected percutaneously into the spleen under ultrasound guidance. The injection was repeated three times at intervals of 1 week. Three dogs each were killed at 1, 4, and 8 weeks after the final injection. All dogs tolerated the procedure well and lived until they were killed. The platelet count and leukocyte count increased after the injections, and remained higher than the pretreatment level until death. This effect probably is due to depressed splenic function. The autopsy showed 40% of the spleen to be infarcted with complete destruction of the normal structure. No serious complications occurred. In addition, injection of ethanolamine oleate in six fully heparinized dogs showed that there was little risk of hemorrhage. Ultrasound-guided percutaneous injection of ethanolamine oleate might be a simple and effective therapy for hypersplenism.