Why do you need a spleen and is it possible to live without it

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

This organ is important for protecting against infections.

What is the spleen and where is it located

The spleen is a small organ located on the left in the abdominal cavity and is shaped like a large bean. It adjoins the Spleen Anatomy / Medscape to the left kidney, flexure of the colon, stomach and tail of the pancreas. The size of the spleen depends on K. U. Chow, B. Luxembourg, E. Seifried, H. Bonig. Spleen Size Is Significantly Influenced by Body Height and Sex: Establishment of Normal Values for Spleen Size at US with a Cohort of 1200 Healthy Individuals / Radiology from gender, age and height of the person and averages from 106 to 142 mm.

Why do you need a spleen

This organ performs many important tasks in Spleen Anatomy / Medscape:

• Hematopoiesis. In the fetus, all blood cells are formed in the spleen during the period of intrauterine development. After birth, only lymphocytes are produced in the organ. But if a person has myeloid leukemia, one of the forms of blood cancer, or the bone marrow is destroyed, then hematopoiesis can resume in the spleen.
• Storage of erythrocytes. This organ contains about 8% of all red blood cells.
• Phagocytosis. This is the name of the process when special cells (phagocytes) absorb old and destroyed cells, as well as foreign microorganisms and antigen proteins.
• Immune reactions. After absorbing these antigens, the spleen enhances the formation of protective blood cells - lymphocytes.

Why the spleen can be removed

There may be several reasons for surgery at Splenectomy / Cleveland Clinic:

• Certain types of cancer. It can be Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, hairy cell leukemia, or metastases of any other tumor to the spleen.
• Diseases of the blood. These include thrombocytopenic purpura, when there are not enough platelets in the blood, and autoimmune hemolytic anemia, in which the breakdown of red blood cells increases. If medication does not help, surgery is done.
• Hypersplenism. This refers to a condition in which the spleen destroys too many platelets or other blood cells.
• Splenomegaly. This is an enlargement of the spleen. Sometimes the organ becomes so large that it causes pain or pressure on the stomach, which is why the person quickly gorges. Therefore, the spleen is removed in order to eliminate the symptoms and determine the cause of their occurrence.
• Severe trauma. In some cases, the spleen is so damaged that severe and life-threatening bleeding occurs. If it cannot be stopped, the organ must be removed.
• Infection. Very rarely, microorganisms penetrate into the tissue, which lead to the appearance of an abscess - an abscess.

How to live without a spleen

Although this organ performs important functions, you can live without it. The bone marrow will provide storage for red blood cells. Spleen problems and spleen removal / NHS liver will take over the bulk of the work. For example, it will protect a person from infectious diseases and help destroy old blood cells. The rest of the immune system, such as lymph nodes, lymphoid tissue, and tissue macrophage cells that have fought infection in the past, will simply work harder. But people with weakened immune systems have a slightly increased risk of infection.

Otherwise, everything is fine. A person with a spleen removed does not need a special diet or lifestyle.