A blood film taken from a 23-year-old patient 3 months after a motor vehicle accident shows target cells, acanthocytes, Howell-Jolly bodies, basophilic stippling and Pappenheimer bodies.
a) State the diagnosis. (10% marks)
b) State which condition is the patient at risk for. (10% marks)
c) List two prevention strategies. (20% marks)
Not available.
a) In the CICM exam, trauma + blood film abnormalities = splenectomy. Specifically, the features include:
b) Sepsis. They are more susceptible to severe infection by encapsulated organisms.
c) Prevention strategies could include:
Cadili, Ali, and Chris de Gara. "Complications of splenectomy." The American journal of medicine 121.5 (2008): 371-375.
Di Sabatino, Antonio, Rita Carsetti, and Gino Roberto Corazza. "Post-splenectomy and hyposplenic states." The Lancet 378.9785 (2011): 86-97.
Davies, John M., et al. "Review of guidelines for the prevention and treatment of infection in patients with an absent or dysfunctional spleen: Prepared on behalf of the British Committee for Standards in Haematology by a Working Party of the Haemato‐Oncology Task Force." British journal of haematology 155.3 (2011): 308-317.