Background: Laparoscopic splenectomy has gained increasing acceptance in the surgical management of a variety of splenic disorders, in particular hematologic diseases.

Methods: We report our experience with 79 patients who underwent this procedure because of hematologic disorders during the past 4 years at the Department of Surgery, St, Mary's Hospital, Catholic University, Medical College.

Results: The mean age was 32 years (Range 6-64 years) and the mean spleen weight was 218 gm (range 85-1100 gm). The indications for splencetomy were idiopatic thrombocytopenic purpura (48 cases), heredirary spherocytosis (9 cases), autoimmune hemolytic anemia (4 cases), myelofibrosis (3 cases), leukemia induced splenomegaly (11 cases), and several others. All splenectomies were performed safely with mean estimate blood loss of 223 ml. Mean operative time and mean postoperative hospital stay was 150 min and 4.5 days. Respectively postoperatibe pain medication was needed in 19% of patients, just one injection in immediate postoperative period. Diet was started on posterative second day of third day.

Conclusions: Laparoscopic splenectomy surely is a safe procedure, offering better comesis, much less pain, and shorter hospital stay with lower post operative mobidity

Keywords: Laparoscopy, Splenectomy