Article and patient selection. Articles were retrieved for review if their journal, title, or abstract suggested that they contained evaluable data on eligible patients and indicated that the articles did not report primarily on children. Retrieved articles were selected for review if they reported 15 or more consecutive patients who had splenectomy for ITP and who were followed for at least 1 month after splenectomy, and if they contained data on 1 or more of the 3 outcomes of interest: (1) platelet count response, (2) predictors of response, or (3) surgical complications.