
Variational Anatomy of the Segmental Branches of the Splenic Artery
336-338
Correspondence
Prashant Nashiket Chaware
Assistant Professor, Anatomy Department,
Shri Vasantrao Naik Government Medical College,
Yavatmal, Maharashtra, India, pin-445001
Phone: 09822928591
E-mail: prashantnchaware@gmail.com
Background: The human spleen is highly vascular and friable and so it cannot be sutured. Total splenectomy is commonly done after a splenic injury, but it leads to a decrease in the immunity and thus it creates an altered haematological picture. To avoid this, partial splenectomy can be done by ligating a particular segmental branch of the splenic artery. So, the aim of this study was to accurately identify the segmental branches of the splenic artery.
Materials and Methods: 111 human spleens were studied. Each spleen was dissected carefully by piece-meal dissection. The splenic artery and its branches were cleaned and traced. Any variation in the form of the number of the segmental branches and intersegmental anastomosis, if present, was noted. Other branches of the splenic artery which were not supplying the spleen were not taken into consideration.
Results: The number of branches of the splenic artery which divided the spleen into arterial segments, varied between two to five. Two segmental branches were found in 13.51% specimens, three were found in 60.66% specimens, four were found in 17.11% specimens and five segmental branches were present in 2.7% of the total spleens. The parts of the spleen which were supplied by these segmental branches were separated by an a vascular zone, except in 1.80% spleens in which an inter-arterial anastomosis was found between the arteries of the adjacent segments.
Conclusion: The findings of this study are useful for surgeons, especially in partial splenectomy.