Splenic hydatidosis. Results of a series of consecutive cases undergoing surgery

Background Splenic echinococcosis (SE) is usually an asymptomatic disease whose diagnosis is made incidentally. Aim To determine postoperative morbidity (POM) and recurrence in patients who underwent surgery for SE. Methods Case series with follow-up, of patients with SE operated on, consecutively, between 2000 and 2018. The outcome variables were POM and recurrence. Other variables of interest were diameter and location of the cyst, type of surgery, surgical time, hospital stay, and mortality. The patients were followed up clinically and with images for a minimum of 18 months. Descriptive statistics were used, with measures of central tendency and dispersion. Results Twenty-six patients (53.8% men), with a median age of 41.5 years, underwent surgery in this period. The medians of cysts diameter, surgical time and hospital stay were 14.5 cm, 65 min, and 4.5 days respectively. POM was 11.5% (3 cases). There was no mortality. With a median follow-up of 94 months, a recurrence of 3.8% was verified. Conclusion Verified results, in terms of POM, mortality and recurrence are appropriate in comparison with those of series of similar size and follow-up.