Clinical effect of intervention with Gandouling tablets in the perioperative period of splenectomy in patients with Wilson's disease accompanied by splenomegaly and hypersplenism

Objective To investigate the clinical effect of perioperative Gandouling intervention in patients with Wilson's disease ( WD) complicated by splenomegaly and hypersplenism and the changes in related indices. Methods A total of 60 WD patients with splenomegalyand hypersplenism who were hospitalized in Encephalopathy Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, from July 2016 to July 2018 were enrolled and randomly divided into control group and treatment group, with 30 patients in each group. Thepatients in the control group were given conventional Western medicine treatment including decoppering for 4 courses ( each course of treatmentwas 8 days) , followed by splenectomy and conventional decoppering at the end of week 1 after surgery for 2 courses; the patients in the treat-ment group were given Gandouling in addition to the treatment in the control group. Clinical outcome and changes in 24-hour urinary copper, peripheral hemogram, liver function parameters, and portal venous flow indices were observed. The two independent samples t-test was usedfor comparison of continuous data between two groups, and the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between twogroups. Results The treatment group had a significantly higher overall response rate than the control group [90% ( 27/30) vs 60% ( 18/30) , χ2= 4. 43, P = 0. 03]. Compared with the control group at the end of two courses of treatment after surgery, the treatment group had sig-nificantly lower 24-hour urinary copper ( t = 41. 07, P < 0. 05) and levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase ( t = 7. 29 and 6. 13, both P < 0. 01) and significantly higher levels of red blood cell count, platelet count, and hemoglobin ( t =-5. 49, -3. 43, and-3. 53, all P < 0. 01) . At the end of two courses of treatment after surgery, both groups had a reduction in portal venousflow, and the treatment group had a significantly greater improvement in portal venous flow than the control group ( t = 12. 05, P < 0. 01) .Conclusion Gandouling can improve the clinical outcome of WD patients with splenomegaly and hypersplenism after splenectomy.