Can You Live Without a Spleen?

Can You Live Without a Spleen?

Spleen, an abdominal organ that forms a part of lymphatic and immune system, is an organ as big as a fist, right under the stomach and on the left side. Spleen is responsible for holding a reserve of spare blood, removing old and damaged cells, regulating body fluids and fighting infections as it is the center of activity of mononuclear phagocyte system. Splenic rupture and swelling are often a consequence of certain injuries and diseases, and an extremely damaged spleen may need to be surgically removed. With so many important functions, can human being live without a spleen?

Can You Live Without A Spleen?
Much to everyone’s surprise, one can surely live without a spleen. In fact, many people undergo splenectomy, a surgery done to remove spleen completely or a part of it. Since the organ plays an important role in fighting against micro-organisms causing infections, the complete removal of spleen may very well make one prone to infections.

With partial removal of spleen, one can lead a healthy life. Around 30% of people have a second or an accessory spleen that is small, but may grow and become active on removal of the main organ. While organs like liver have regenerating capacity, spleen lacks any such ability.

Risks You Will Have without a Spleen
Although you get a postive answer to the question, "Can you live without a spleen?" there are still issues to untangle.Like all the other surgical procedures, splenectomy carries its own set of risks and complications, which, if not managed properly, may prove to be fatal as well. These complications include:

• Spleen helps to ward off infections. Without it, you may prone to bacterial infections. The most dangerous causative bacteria are Streptococcus Pneumonia, Neisseria meningitides and Haemophilus Influenza, leading to pneumonia, Meningitis and some other serious infections. Vaccine before surgery can greatly prevent these kind of infection.


• Another kind of infection is overwhelming post splenectomy infections (OPSI).It is responsible for death in 50% of cases because such infections often develop quickly making a person severely ill. These life threatening infections are more common in people below age 5 and those who’ve had an operation in recent 2 years.


• Other complications includes clot in vein carrying blood to liver, hernia at site of incision, infection at the site of incision, Pancreatitis, lung collapse and injury to stomach, Pancreas and colon

Require immediate medical attention, if you have:
• Bleeding

• Chills

• Shortness of breath

• Cough

• Difficulty drinking

• Difficulty eating

• Abdominal swelling

• Continuous pain that doesn’t respond to medicines

• Increased redness, pain or pus at the site of incision

• Persistent nausea and vomiting

• Fever over 101°F

How to Live a Healthy Life without a Spleen?
Can you live without a spleen? Yes, but can you lead a healthy life? Yes, however for improving the quality of life post-splenectomy, the following things should be kept in mind:

1. Get Vaccinations
Apart from the routine vaccinations that one has during childhood, make sure that you’ve been vaccinated against the following as well:

• Pneumococcal infections with boosters every 5 years


• Flu


• Hemophilus influenza type b


• Meningitis C

2. Look Out for Infections
Keep a tab on all signs and symptoms that indicate an infection, so that your GP can start the antibiotic course as soon as possible or even admit you in the hospital if required. Features indicating an infection are:

• Fever


• Sore Throat


• Severe Headache


• Cough


• Headache with drowsiness or rash


• Abdominal pain

3. Take Antibiotics
Lifetime intake of low-dose antibiotics is recommended after complete spleen removal in order to prevent bacterial infections. These are specifically important in:

• First 2 years after splenectomy


• People with an improperly functioning immune system


• Children below 16

4. Make Your Condition Noticed
Can you live without a spleen? Yes, but you have to make you condition noticed. Once splenectomy has been performed, make sure you inform all your healthcare providers during future consultations about the organ absence. Be it a doctor or a dentist, both should be aware of your condition. Wearing a medical ID is another efficient way of informing people about your condition especially in emergencies. You can do this by wearing a MedicAlert or Medi-Tag bracelet or pendant or alerting the staff through a splenectomy card provided by the hospital.

5. Avoid Tick and Animal Bites
Tick or small blood sucking parasite bite as well as animal bites especially a dog bite can result in serious infections. People involved in activities like trekking and camping should be specifically cautious as they may be infected with tick transmitted rare diseases like Babesiosis. Your body should be completely covered during such activities and unusual symptoms should be immediately reported to a doctor.

6. Take Extra Care with International Travel
While travelling, be extra cautious and avoid travelling to areas where Malaria is endemic to prevent from contracting severe malaria. Make sure you carry anti-malarial drugs like antibiotics, and get an extra vaccination against meningitis vaccination or any other travel vaccinations.

Spleen Pain – Symptoms, Causes, location, Treatment

Spleen Pain – Symptoms, Causes, location, Treatment

The spleen is a purple colored organ measuring about 4-5 inches long and located in the upper left quadrant of the abdomen. The spleen is placed intact within the rib cage and hence it cannot be felt easily. The main function of the spleen is to purify the blood and identify and attack allergens and foreign particles. Thus it helps the immune system of the body. The white pulp of the spleen creates blood cells and immune cells and the red pulp purifies the blood and removes dead blood cells.

The spleen can be felt by your doctor when it becomes enlarged or inflamed. Splenomegaly is the medical term used to describe an Enlarged Spleen. It may cause pain the left abdomen and the pain may progress towards the left shoulder. In some people it may not cause any symptoms and gets detected in a routine physical examination.

Pain :

Any pain felt in the left abdomen cannot be attributed to spleen alone. The spleen lies in close proximity to other organs like stomach, kidney and colon and any abnormality in these vital organs can cause pain in the left upper abdomen. If you have sharp pain in the left upper portion of the abdomen while breathing in or sneezing, it can be due to spleen problem or infection. The pain becomes worse after having large meals since the expanded stomach would exert pressure on the spleen.

Symptoms Of Inflamed Spleen :

An enlarged spleen can cause a feeling of fullness in the abdomen. The person may feel full with little eating since the enlarged spleen would press on the stomach. Pain can be felt in the left abdomen radiating towards the left shoulder. It can make you easily tired and make you prone to infections. The fresh blood cells get reduced in amount causing anemia and easy bleeding. In some people there may not be any symptoms.

Spleen Pain Causes :

• Enlargement of spleen can cause spleen pain but it seldom produces any symptom.


• Infection of spleen can occur due to bacteria or viruses or even parasites.


• Certain types of liver problems like liver cirrhosis can cause enlargement of spleen and pain.


• Other causes that contribute for enlargement of spleen include metabolic disorders, Lymphoma and other types of blood Cancers and blood clot in the veins of spleen.


• Spleen inflammation can largely affect its normal function. This would cause serious complications like reduction of healthy blood cells and entrapment of platelets.


• Splenomegaly would not cause sharp pain but only dull sensation of pain with discomfort.


• Spleen infraction can cause death of spleen tissue. This is an emergency situation which can become fatal if not given medical help promptly. Spleen infract can lead to reduced blood supply to the spleen causing further tissue death. Arterial block like embolism can cause spleen infract.


• Rupture of spleen can happen due to severe trauma or injury to the abdominal area. Car accidents can cause spleen rupture causing abnormal blood leakage into the abdominal cavity causing death.


• Similarly a rib fracture occurring in the 9th or 11th ribs can break the ribs which would eventually penetrate into the spleen causing spleen rupture. Weakening of spleenic capsule and severe infections of the spleen can also cause splenomegaly and rupture of spleen.

Who Are At Risk ?

Spleen enlargement can occur at any age due to infections like Mononucleosis. People with serious metabolic disorders like Gaucher’s disease and Niemann disease and people who travel frequently to Malaria endemic areas are at risk of splenomegaly.



Diagnosis :

An expert doctor can identify an enlarged spleen during physical examination. CT scan or ultrasound scan can help in ruling out any abnormality in the spleen. Radioactive dye is sent through the upper arm vein which moves into the body and also into the liver and spleen. Further conducting a computerized topography test will give a clear diagnosis.

Spleen Pain Treatment :

Spleen enlargement cannot be identified easily since it may not cause any signal. The doctor would look for underlying medical cause for splenomegaly. Blood test result may reveal presence of bacteria indicating bacterial infection. In that case antibiotics are prescribed. “Watch and wait” is the approach for treating enlarged spleen in cases with no symptoms. In case of serious complications the splenectomy (surgically removing the spleen) is to be done.

Spleen

Spleen






Spleen is part of lymphatic system of the body and is located on the left upper portion of the abdomen on your back. The main function of the spleen is to drain out the damaged blood cells. It filters and destroys the unwanted blood cells and is responsible for the production of lymphocytes (serves as defense for protecting the body against pathogens). Spleen acts as a storehouse for storing blood cells and platelets and releases it whenever necessary. It also acts as a messenger between the brain and the immune system by fighting against infection.

Any problem in the spleen like pain or swelling can seriously affect its function causing undesirable consequences. The size of the spleen is roughly the size of your fist. If there is swelling of spleen due to any infection or disease, your doctor can feel the spleen since it expands in size when there is inflammation. An Enlarged Spleen is not a problem always. It indicates that spleen is doing its best of functions. But if there are other symptoms like pain and enlargement then it can be a problem of infection.

Causes of Spleen Enlargement :

Many diseases and infection can cause enlargement of spleen. Infection caused by virus (Mononucleosis), infection of bacteria like Syphilis and endocartitis (Inflammation of heart layer), infection caused by parasite (malaria), liver cirrhosis, and Hemolytic Anemia can cause enlargement of spleen.

Certain types of blood cancer like Leukemia, lymphoma, metabolic disorders (Niemann Pick disease and Gaucher’s disease), and increased pressure on the veins can cause enlargement of spleen. Injury during sports activities, cyst formation and infiltrative diseases can also cause enlargement of spleen.

What happens when the spleen overgrows in size?

An enlarged spleen may not function like before. It may not be able to filter and destroy bacteria from the blood cells. It cannot differentiate between healthy cells and damaged blood cells. This will lead to reduction of healthy cells in the blood. Over production of blood cells or platelets will block the spleen thus disrupting its functions. The spleen grows big in size due to swelling and can cause damage to the neighboring organs.

Symptoms :

Enlarged spleen may be with or without symptoms. For some people it can cause pain on the upper abdomen region that spreads till the left shoulder. The person may feel bloated or full after eating very little food. He may become anemic or feel tired soon. There may be unexplained Weight Loss and consistent dull pain on the upper back. The person will be getting infections of various types frequently. He is prone to bleed easily without clot formation. He may suffer from easy bleeding problem and bruising.

Ruptured Spleen :

Sometimes the spleen can get ruptured causing emergency problem pouring the blood into the stomach, causing large bleeding. Many times accidents caused by motor vehicle crash and severe injury during sports activities can cause rupturing of spleen. Certain diseases like mononucleosis and blood disorders can also cause ruptured spleen.

Who are at risk of enlarged spleen?

People of specific race like Africans, Ashkenazi Jews and those who are infected with mononucleosis are under the risk of getting enlarged spleen. People with inherited blood related disorders and metabolic disorder can also get this problem. Traveling frequently to malaria prone area can also pose risk for getting this disease. If left untreated, enlarged spleen can become infectious or even rupture causing even death.

Diagnoses :

The doctor can detect enlarged spleen during routine physical examination. The size of the spleen becomes big when it gets enlarged thus making it easy for detecting it. Further your doctor may request for blood culture, CT or MRI scan of the spleen for diagnosing the intensity of the problem.

Treatment :

In case the spleen becomes enlarged very much it becomes non-responsive for any medications. Hence it has to be removed by splenectomy process. Some doctors use radiation process to shrink the spleen size to normal, instead of removing it surgically.

Mild to moderate enlargement will resolve on its own. It is possible to live without a spleen but it makes you prone to many sort of serious infections. Even after surgery the body is at risk of catching an infection.

Before and after the surgery of removing spleen, series of vaccination has to be taken. You need to follow the instructions of your doctor by taking pneumococcal and meningococcal vaccines to prevent getting Pneumonia and Meningitis. You should also avoid traveling to malaria or any other epidemic prone area.

Lifestyle Modification :

Once you are diagnosed with enlarged spleen, you should avoid involving in sports activity like hockey or football. Only indoor sports are recommended for you. You need to restrict your daily routine for preventing rupturing of spleen.

Since enlarged spleen is likely to rupture easily, you need to be careful not to get into accidents while driving. Take important course of vaccination to prevent infectious diseases.

Spleen

Spleen

What is Spleen?

The spleen is another important organ of the body which is primarily responsible for the storage of blood (especially in case of hemorrhage) and the trapping of pathogenic microorganisms. Every vertebrate has a spleen which normally assumes a brownish color and weighs around 0.44 pounds in healthy adults. It is normal for the spleen to enlarge following digestion. However, certain conditions may also cause enlargement of the spleen or splenomegaly. These include malaria and Mononucleosis infection. You will know everything there is to know about this organ in the following snippets.

Spleen Function

It would be nearly impossible for us to go through life without the spleen. It is ever hard to imagine not having to go through certain infectious process because the primary function of the spleen has something to do with the regulation of the immune system. Generally, the spleen has two functions which are dependent on the type of pulp; either it’s the white one or the red one. The white pulp of the spleen is primarily responsible for eliciting an immune response via the cell-mediated or humoral immunity. On the other hand, the red pulp portion of the spleen does the filtration of the red blood cells. The spleen also has several other functions which include the following:

• Aside from filtering the red blood cells and initiating an immune response, the spleen also produces certain substances in the form of tuftsin, opsonins and properdin, which are responsible for binding with antigens.


• The spleen is also considered to be a hematopoietic organ which is capable of producing certain blood cells. During the gestation period, the spleen produces red blood cells to the developing fetus up until the fifth month. Soon as the fetus is born, the spleen does not anymore produce red blood cells. Instead, the bone marrow does all the red blood cell production. This is especially true in adults. Nevertheless, even after birth the spleen can still be considered a hematopoietic organ because this never halts producing lymphocytes and thus tagged as the center of the reticuloendothelial system.


• Formed elements and blood components specifically, can also be stored in the spleen. The primary blood cells that are being stored in the spleen include red blood cells and lymphocytes. In emergency cases, the spleen is also able to release platelet and about one-fourth of the lymphocytes are also being stored by the spleen at a single time.


• In a study conducted on mice, it was also found out that the spleen is also able to store monocytes that when there’s an injury to tissues these monocytes would be transformed into macrophages and dendritic cells which will later on help facilitate tissue repair.

Spleen Location

The spleen is located towards the left of the diaphragm or to the upper left aspect of the abdomen. It typically appears to be somewhat mottled by purple and grey tones. This occupies the space between the 9th and 12th rib and is about 11 centimeters in length. It would be pretty facile to get acquainted with the spleen by simply recalling the 1x3x5x7x9x11 rule which would mean that the spleen’s dimension is 1x3x5 inches and approximately weighs about 7 ounces, lying behind the 9th and 11th thoracic rib. Isn’t this pretty nifty to memorize? This is also considered to be part of the lymphatic system and is only composed of efferent lymphatic vessels, same with the thymus. The spleen gets its blood supply directly from the splenic artery and short gastric arteries.

Spleen Pain

Knowing the anatomical location of the spleen is highly critical because this would help tell you that the pain you’re experience right through your abdomen is coming from the spleen itself. Again, you should well acquaint yourself that the spleen is situated at the upper leftmost portion of your abdomen. When you can feel pain over this area, it is likely that you are suffering from splenic pain.

Symptoms
Aside from the manifestation of pain itself, there may also be other symptoms involved. Nonetheless, these symptoms may not be entirely noticeable unless the spleen has become large enough to cause symptoms such as:

• Deep breathing triggers severe pain


• Feeling of fullness even with small meals


• Dull pain which may be localized over the upper back or the mid-back


• Easy fatigability and weakness


• Sudden and unexplained Weight Loss


• Feeling of restlessness


• Vulnerability to infections

Causes
Just like the other organs of the body, the spleen is also as fragile specifically since it is spongy and soft which makes it even more vulnerable to injury. As your spleen begins to enlarge this would begin to trigger a painful sensation alongside. Aside from splenomegaly, there can also be other causes of pain on the spleen and these may include the following:

• Pain may manifest with an Enlarged Spleen because this creates pressure on the lymphatic vessels. Blockage due to the presence of clots, specifically clumping platelets, may also trigger the pain.


• This may also be due to infections like mononucleosis caused by the Epstein-Barr virus. Infectious mononucleosis, however, is more common in adults and even in adolescents. Children are seldom affected.


• Getting infected with the causative agents of Syphilis and Endocarditis would also likely cause a painful sensation over the spleen.


• Pain over the spleen may also be elicited by parasitic infections such as malaria and Toxoplasmosis.


• Rapid destruction of premature red blood cells


• Leukemia


• Hodgkin’s lymphoma


• Presence of metabolic disorders like Niemann-Pick disease and Gaucher’s disease


• Suffering from a condition called Amyloidosis where there’s protein deposition in certain areas of the body.


• Direct injury to the organ such that of in vehicular accidents


• Presence of cysts or Abscesses close to the spleen


• Suffering from an inflammatory disease like Rheumatoid Arthritis

Treatment
Early detection of problems which concern the spleen is highly critical because when these are just being left untreated, these may probably lead to life-threatening situations. The treatment for pain relating to the spleen would vary immensely depending on the underlying pathology. Before your physician would prescribe you a specific treatment, your exact condition must first be determined. For instance, when the splenic pain is primarily felt due to an underlying infection may entirely be treated with antibiotics. When for instance this is caused by the presence of tumor near the spleen, surgery, chemotherapy and other common ways of treating cancer may help palliate or perhaps treat the condition. However, when it is all due to a ruptured spleen, a splenectomy, which is the surgical removal of the spleen, may be indicated. This surgical procedure poses several risks though. Since the spleen has been already removed, the person this time becomes more susceptible to infections. Thus, vaccines and antibiotics may be prescribed as a form of prophylactic management.

Spleen Problems

The spleen is a highly sensitive organ and even a slight injury to it would mean a serious thing. There can be several problems that may affect the spleen. However, the most common one is believed to be spleen enlargement and some conditions may have brought about this.

You're reading Spleen posted by minhhai2d, the information is for reference only.

Enlargement of the Spleen- Splenomegaly

Spleen enlargement or splenomegaly is unhealthy. Though there are some bodily processes (i.e. digestion) that would normally cause the spleen to increase in size, it is but abnormal to find an enlarged spleen. There are numerous sited reasons for splenomegaly. Some of them include getting affected with infectious mononucleosis, leukemia, lymphoma, Polycythemia Vera, liver cirrhosis and many others. All of the previously mentioned conditions would likely lead to spleen enlargement. Another major aggressor to the spleen is a condition called Sickle Cell Anemia wherein the cells would form like sickles causing them to die prematurely. These premature sickle RBCs get amassed into the spleen thereby altering its functions. Splenomegaly is thought to be a serious problem because this would cause the organ to function improperly.

The spleen gets inflamed in the presence of an infectious process because this would be stimulated to trap more RBCs, platelets and other blood cells than the normal rate. The more blood cells and other foreign bodies get trapped therein would further cause the spleen to enlarge to the point of getting ruptured which is massively a medical emergency. The enlargement of the spleen due to excessive trappings of blood cells and other components is otherwise known as hypersplenism. When the spleen has reached its full size and its own blood supply cannot anymore suffice, this would eventually lead to its own death.

Hyposplenism

This is another problem which involves the spleen. In a condition called hyposplenism, the spleen eventually loses its normal functions leading to some serious problems, specifically increased susceptibility to infection. The decreased function of the spleen would inversely cause the peripheral elements to increase in number.

Asplenia

Compared to hyposplenia, asplenia is much a serious concern because in this condition, the spleen ceases to function entirely which even more predisposes an individual to infections. This may be due to a congenital disease called heterotaxy disease. However, this may also be acquired after birth especially in cases of splenectomy.