Autogenic splenic implantation versus splenectomy in patients undergoing distal pancreatectomy for benign or low-grade malignant lesions of the distal pancreas: study protocol for a multicentre, open-label, randomized controlled trial (RESTORE).

"Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participateEthical approval has been obtained from the South-Central Hampshire Research Ethics Committee (reference number 18/SC/0364). All patients give informed consent prior to any study-related intervention. Consent for publicationNot applicable. Competing interestsThe authors declare that they have no competing interests. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests."

"Funding This study was supported by funding from the Liver and Pancreatic Research and Development Cancer Charity. The funders are not playing a role in study design, data collection and analyses."

"Trial registration International Standard Randomized Controlled Trials Number (ISRCTN) ISRCTN10171587. Prospectively registered on 18 February 2019."