Complications of splenectomy

What is splenectomy andwhen is it need necessary?

Splenectomy is a medicalterm for the surgery procedure in which the spleen is removed. The spleen is anorgan which is located in the left part of the stomach, under the rib cage,and it has an important role in producing red blood cells and certain whiteblood cells, in filtering old or damaged blood cells and in fighting theinfections. Despite all these functions it is possible for a human being tolead a normal life even without this organ.

The situations thatrequire this surgery procedure are various injuries to abdomen in the firstplace because the greatest majority of them cause the rupture of the spleen,which thus leads to the internal bleeding and which may be life threatening andfatal if not reacted in time. However, splenectomy may be considered a methodof the treatment when it comes to some blood disorders infections particulartypes of cancers tumors and noncancerous cysts. In cases of enlarged spleen,splenectomy may also be the best possible solution.

The types of the procedure and thepossible complications

Splenectomy can bepartial or complete, meaning that in some cases only part of the spleen mayhave to be removed, and in others the whole organ. It is important to mentionthat both of the procedures are done with general anesthesia. Over the pastseveral years, laparoscopic splenectomy has become more and more common, and incomparison to the previously mentioned procedures it is much easier for thepatient because of the less pain, shorter recovery period and reduced risk ofinfections.

Even though splenectomyis considered to be among the safer surgery procedures, sometimes it can get complicated and insuch cases, bleeding, blood clotting, or infections may be the reasons for thecomplications. Since pancreas and colon are the nearest organs sometimes theymight be damaged or injured during the procedure, which may also lead to anumber of complications.

In case the surgeryprocedure ends well and without any complications there are still some risks,because very serious infections are possible evenafter the procedure. More precisely, they are very likely to occurs because thespleen plays a very important part inthe body's immune system, and when removed, the body is more susceptible and athigher risk of developing various infections. This is the reason why in casesof splenectomy, the doctors recommend that the patients receivevaccines that prevent pneumonia and flu for example.