The spleen is an organ that is located in the upper left part of the abdomen and has as functions filter the blood and eliminate the injured red blood cells and produce and store white blood cells for the immune system.
There are diseases that can affect this organ, making it bigger or causing pains that can be felt when coughing or even touching and can also alter the values of the blood test.
Spleen rupture
Damage to the spleen is rare because of the position it occupies in the body, being protected by the stomach and rib cage, however, it can occur due to an accident, a fight, a more violent sport or a rib fracture, for example.
Some of the signs and symptoms that may indicate ruptured spleen are left upper abdominal pain with tenderness, dizziness, increased heart rate due to intraperitoneal hemorrhage, pallor or motion sickness.
Spleen rupture is a medical emergency because it can cause very serious bleeding, requiring immediate evaluation and treatment. Learn more about spleen rupture.
Spleen enlargement
Due to the greater capacity to store blood cells in splenomegaly, the functioning of the spleen is affected and the number of circulating blood cells decreases causing anemia, frequent infections and hemorrhagic disorders. Thus, enlargement of the spleen may be caused by:
1. Increased spleen function
Splenomegaly may result from increased spleen function due to causes such as pernicious anemia, thalassemia, hemoglobinopathies, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, sarcoidosis, myelofibrosis or hemolytic anemias, thrombocytopenia and immune neutropenia,
In addition, the spleen may also increase due to increased function in response to medications and infections such as AIDS, viral hepatitis, cytomegalovirus, tuberculosis, malaria or Leishmaniasis, for example.
2. Liver problems
Problems in the liver such as cirrhosis, hepatic vein obstruction, splenic artery aneurysm, congestive heart failure or portal hypertension may also cause enlargement of the spleen.
3. Diseases that cause infiltration
There are also several diseases that can lead to increased spleen size by infiltration, such as amyloidosis, leukemias, lymphomas, Hodgkin's disease, myeloproliferative syndromes, cysts or metastatic tumors, such as melanoma, for example.
What treatment?
Treatment depends on the cause of the pain, and a previous diagnosis is necessary to identify it. It may be necessary to resort to antibiotics if it is an infection, chemotherapy or radiotherapy if it is cancer and depending on the severity of the problem, it may even be necessary to remove the spleen.
Removal of spleen
Also known as splenectomy, removal of the spleen consists of surgery in which the total or partial removal of the spleen is performed, and can be performed by laparoscopy. Learn more about this procedure.
This surgery is indicated in cases of blood diseases, cancer or spleen rupture, spherocytosis, sickle cell anemia, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, splenic abscess and autoimmune hemolytic anemia, or in situations that the physician deems necessary.
The most serious consequence of splenectomy is increased susceptibility to infection.
