Effect of non‐operative management (NOM) of splenic rupture versus splenectomy on the distribution of peripheral blood lymphocyte populations and cytokine production by T cells

Post‐traumatic splenectomy is associated with increased postoperative morbidity and mortality and long‐term impairment of humoral and cellular immunity. Alternatives to surgery have been developed to minimize or avoid the immediate and/or long‐term complications of splenectomy. Herein we investigated the long‐term effect of non‐operative management (NOM) of the traumatic rupture of the spleen on the distribution of peripheral blood (PB) lymphocyte populations and cytokine production by T cells. PB samples were drawn from six NOM patients, 13 age‐matched adults who had undergone splenectomy after trauma (SP patients) and 31 age‐matched controls. Cellular phenotypes and the intracellular production of interferon (IFN)‐γ, interleukin (IL)‐2, IL‐4 and IL‐10 cytokines in T cells were determined in whole blood ± mitogens by flow cytometry. NOM patients did not show any changes in the absolute numbers of lymphocytes or the distribution of their subsets, compared to the controls. In contrast, SP patients showed a sustained increase in the percentage and/or absolute numbers of lymphocytes, CD8 T cells, activated CD8 T cells, natural killer (NK) T cells, NK cells and γδ T cells, and a reduction in naive CD4 T cells. The constitutive or induced cytokine production by T cells of the NOM group was similar to the control group, whereas SP patients had increased percentages of constitutive IL‐2‐ and IFN‐γ‐producing CD8 T cells and IFN‐γ‐producing CD4 T cells. Our findings indicate collectively that the healing process in NOM does not affect the architecture of the spleen to such an extent that it would lead to long‐term alterations of the proportions of PB lymphocytes or the T cell cytokine profiles.