The spleen is a small organ located in the upper left abdomen and is very important for filtering blood and removing injured red blood cells, as well as for producing and storing white blood cells for the immune system.
Over time, several diseases can affect your spleen, enlarge it, cause pain, and alter blood test values. Some of these diseases include mononucleosis, spleen rupture, or sickle cell disease, for example. Learn about the other causes of spleen inflammation and how to treat them.
- Although important.
- This organ is not essential for life and therefore.
- If necessary.
- Can be removed by surgery called splenectomy.
The spleen is located at the top left of the abdominal area, just behind the stomach and under the diaphragm, measures between 10 and 15 cm and resembles a closed fist, which is protected by the ribs.
This organ is divided into two main parts, red pulp and white pulp, which have different functions and are formed by fluffy tissue.
There are several important functions that the spleen performs, including:
These functions are performed on the spleen pulp, with the red pulp responsible for storing blood and red blood cells, while white pulp is responsible for immune system functions, such as lymphocyte production.
Changes that cause an enlarged spleen or pain are often caused by a viral infection in the body, such as mononucleosis, for example, that causes the spleen to produce more lymphocytes to fight the infection, igniting the organ and leaving the largest.
However, liver diseases, such as cirrhosis, blood diseases, changes in lymph organs, or cancer, such as leukemia or lymphoma, can also cause changes in the spleen.
In addition to all this, severe pain may also indicate a case of spleen rupture that occurs mainly after accidents or severe blows to the stomach, in this situation you should go to the hospital immediately, as life-threatening internal bleeding can occur. See what signs may indicate a ruptured spleen.
Although the spleen is a very important organ for the body, it can be removed by surgery whenever there is cancer or when a severe rupture occurs, for example.
Once the spleen is removed, other organs in the body will adapt to produce the same functions. An example is the liver, which adapts to fight infections and filter red blood cells, for example.
To better understand how surgery works to remove the spleen.