What Side Of The Body Is The Spleen Located – The spleen is an organ that sits under your ribcage on the upper left side of your abdomen. It helps fight infections and filters unnecessary material from your blood, such as old or damaged blood cells.

Image 1. Illustration of splenic artery (red) and splenic vein (blue) with splenic vessels.

What Side Of The Body Is The Spleen Located

A splenectomy is surgery to remove your spleen. The most common reason for splenectomy is to treat a ruptured spleen, which is often caused by abdominal trauma. A splenectomy may be used to treat other conditions, including an enlarged spleen causing discomfort (splenomegaly), some blood disorders, some cancers, infections, and noncancerous cysts or tumors.

Spleen: Anatomy, Function, And Treatment

Splenectomy is most commonly performed laparoscopically through 3 small incisions. With this type of surgery, you can leave the hospital the day after surgery and be fully recovered within two weeks.

After a splenectomy, other organs in your body take over most of the functions previously performed by your spleen. You can be active without a spleen, but you are at increased risk of getting sick or getting serious infections. The risk is greatest immediately after surgery.

To reduce your risk of infection, you may need to get certain vaccinations to prevent certain infections. These include vaccinations for Haemophilus influenzae type B, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseria meningitis. Ideally those vaccinations should be given at least 2 weeks before surgery. A lock (lock locked padlock icon) or https:// means you are securely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Your spleen is an organ at the top of your abdomen and on your left side under the ribs. It’s as big as your fist. The spleen is part of your lymphatic system, which fights infection and balances the fluids in your body. It contains white blood cells that fight germs. Your spleen helps regulate the amount of blood in your body and destroys old and damaged cells.

Side View Spleen Human Body Icon, Flat Style By Anatolir56

Certain diseases can cause your spleen to become swollen. You can damage or rupture your spleen in an injury, especially if it’s already swollen. If your spleen is too damaged, you may need surgery to remove it. You can live without a spleen. Other organs, such as your liver, will take over some of the spleen’s work. However, without a spleen, your body will lose some of its ability to fight infections.

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The information on this site should not be used as a substitute for professional medical care or advice. If you have questions about your health, contact a health care provider. You can go your whole life and never think about your spleen. As long as it’s not damaged, your spleen continues to filter your blood and make white blood cells without fuss. Tucked under your rib cage, your spleen is well protected. However, that doesn’t mean your spleen can’t become damaged and potentially become a bigger problem.

An enlarged spleen is the result of damage or trauma to the spleen caused by various medical conditions, diseases or types of physical trauma. Infections, liver problems, blood cancers and metabolic disorders can all cause your spleen to enlarge, a condition called splenomegaly.

Spleen Diseases And Symptoms

When your spleen is enlarged, you are at increased risk of rupturing it. A ruptured spleen or even a bad splenic pain can cause massive internal bleeding, which will require immediate medical attention.

Your spleen is a small orange-shaped organ in the upper left side of your abdomen. Tucked behind the ninth, tenth, and eleventh ribs just below your left lung, your spleen is an organ that plays a role in not just one, but two major body systems.

The spleen is made up of two distinct types of tissue, each with its own function. The primary role of the spleen is to filter your blood. A type of tissue in your spleen, known as red pulp, helps remove damaged blood cells and other cellular waste from your blood supply. Your spleen is also responsible for retaining platelets to help your blood clot when you are injured. The spleen also helps maintain a healthy number of red blood cells in your blood so your blood can carry oxygen efficiently.

As part of your lymphatic system, another major function of the spleen is to help your immune system function properly. Another type of tissue in your spleen, the white pulp, is responsible for helping to store lymphocytes. Also known as white blood cells, these cells are your body’s main defense against infection. When you are sick, the spleen releases these white blood cells into your bloodstream in an attempt to attack invaders, such as bacteria or viruses, to destroy them and keep you healthy.

The Symptoms And Causes Of A Ruptured Spleen

You’d think any enlarged organ would cause pain, but surprisingly, an enlarged spleen doesn’t give you many clues that something is wrong.

Like many other illnesses, problems with your spleen may not cause many symptoms on their own. It takes a severe case of splenomegaly for you to feel pain from your spleen. If your spleen is significantly enlarged, you may experience pain in your upper abdomen and right shoulder.

The pressure an enlarged spleen can put on surrounding organs can sometimes be felt if the swelling is severe enough. If you experience severe pain in the upper left side of your abdomen when taking a deep breath, it may be time to talk to your doctor to see if you are suffering from splenomegaly.

Because of its role in cleaning and maintaining your blood supply, the spleen can be susceptible to a variety of conditions that affect your blood. These can include genetic diseases and blood cancers such as Hodgkin’s disease (a type of lymphoma) and leukemia. Your diet and lifestyle can cause your spleen to become enlarged. Liver disease, such as cirrhosis, caused by chronic alcoholism, can affect the spleen. Certain types of heart disease, which can be affected by diet and exercise, can also disrupt the blood supply to your spleen.

The Strange History Of The Spleen, The Organ That Can Replicate Itself

Blood disorders are an important source of spleen related problems. Since your spleen spends all day filtering and cleaning your blood supply, things that go wrong in your blood, especially when they affect your red blood cells, can be a challenge for your spleen. In many blood disorders that are a common cause of splenomegaly, the spleen works too hard to remove damaged blood cells. These conditions include hemolytic anemia, sickle cell disease, thalassemia, and spherocytosis.

The blood disorders mentioned above are not the only reason why your spleen may be trying to target and filter damaged cells from your blood. Cancers such as leukemia and Hodgkin’s disease can damage blood cells and result in abnormal amounts of filtration by the spleen. It is also possible that other types of cancer can metastasize to the splenic tissue.

There are many metabolic and genetic disorders that can affect the spleen. These conditions focus less on the damage to the blood itself, but damage to other tissues in the body that causes the spleen to do extra work. More common causes of this type of damage to the spleen include:

A variety of infections are also possible causes of splenomegaly. These can include viral, bacterial and even parasitic infections. These infections span a spectrum of serious, life-threatening infections, from HIV/AIDS and malaria to tuberculosis and viral hepatitis. Other, lesser-known infections such as anaplasmosis and cytomegalovirus can also damage the immune system, including the spleen.

The Spleen And Its Role In Immune Function

Most organs in the body have their own way of telling you that something is wrong. A persistent cough and runny nose may indicate that something is wrong with your respiratory system. Blood in your stool is a clear sign that you should talk to your doctor, as something may be wrong with your digestive system. On the other hand, your spleen problems have few such symptoms.

If you feel like you’re pushing back from the table before you’ve had enough to eat, a problem with your spleen probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. In fact, a vague sensation of fullness sometimes indicates that your spleen is enlarged and pressing on your abdomen.

Other symptoms of splenomegaly are more closely related to any underlying disease that damaged your spleen in the first place. These can run the gamut from symptoms of infections like HIV/AIDS to liver disorders and malaria. Listed below are some common symptoms closely linked to splenic problems:

You are unlikely to ever go to the doctor to have an enlarged spleen checked. Usually, symptoms of the underlying cause of your splenomegaly

Location Spleen Images, Stock Photos, 3d Objects, & Vectors

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