Compliance with Australian splenectomy guidelines in patients undergoing post-traumatic splenectomy at a tertiary centre.

TO THE EDITOR: The lack of a functioning spleen is associated with a lifelong risk of overwhelming post-splenectomy infection (OPSI). Historically, mortality rates associated with OPSI have been in excess of 50%.1-3 OPSI is a preventable illness through vaccination, education, prophylactic antibiotic use and other measures, as summarised in the national Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases (ASID)-endorsed guidelines for prevention of sepsis in asplenic and hyposplenic patients.4