Resection of the Spleen Using the Water Jet Dissection Technique

Today, spleen-preserving or splenic-tissue-conserving surgery is both an accepted and desirable principle in the surgical treatment of injuries to the spleen as well as nontraumatic benign splenic lesions. In the rare case of benign tumorous lesions of the spleen, the question whether splenectomy or resection is the preferred successful therapeutic option is still being discussed.

We present a case in which a high-pressure water jet dissector (Helix Hydro-Jet, A. Pein Medizintechnik, Schwerin, Germany) was used to perform an elective resection in a 13-year-old boy with a hamartoma of the spleen. The postoperative course was free of complications. The case illustrates the excellent features of water jet dissection in terms of transection of the parenchymal tissue and safe and selective hemostasis, which has also made the Hydro-Jet our preferred instrument for surgery on the splenic parenchyma.