Led by a group of ITP physician experts and patient advocacy organizations including PDSA, the ITP World Impact Survey (I-WISh) conducted a study to examine patient perception on splenectomy on ITP patients.

After surveying 1507 ITP patients and 472 physicians, I-WISh found that physicians recommended splenectomy in 32% of patients with persistent, chronic, recurrent ITP.

Undergoing a splenectomy has approximately a 60% success rate in treating ITP patients; patients who participated in this study had a much lower success rate of 36%, with 15% of those patients believing it was an undesirable as a treatment option, and 43% of surveyed patients regretting their splenectomy because it did not work.

Top concerns of patients when deciding whether to undergo a splenectomy included the need for regular immunizations, risk of increased infections, carrying a splenectomy card for panel, GI inflammation, daily need for antibiotics, the risk of respiratory symptoms, clotting, and the risk of sepsis or fever requiring ER visits.

One or more of these adverse events occurred in 78% of patients who received a splenectomy. Unfortunately, only half of patients felt they were made aware of the long-term complications of splenectomy before surgery, and one in four patients who received a splenectomy experienced other health issues following surgery.

Over half of patients were worried about long-term side effects. Overall, this study highlighted the need for improved patient education on the potential adverse effects of splenectomy.

Read the full story here – https://pdsa.org/enews/item/1879-pdsa-enews-102919.html

Source: PDSA.org

Link: https://pdsa.org/enews/item/1879-pdsa-enews-102919.html