Definition – What is a splenectomy?
The so-called splenectomy describes the removal of the spleen or parts of the organ. Such a splenectomy may be necessary in cases of injury to the spleen as a result of an accident or in some internal diseases. The latter include in particular dangerous functional disorders of the spleen or diseases in which there is a considerable enlargement of the spleen and thus an increased risk of spontaneous “bursting” of the organ.
How complicated the operation for a splenectomy is depends greatly on whether it is an emergency operation following an accident or a scheduled operation. Irrespective of this, however, splenectomy does have a number of disadvantages, the most important of which are an increased tendency to thrombosis and an increased susceptibility to infection. For this reason, follow-up treatment is of great importance for the long-term success of a splenectomy.
Causes
The most common cause of a splenectomy is injury to the spleen as a result of an accident. Since the spleen is very well supplied with blood, injuries to the organ caused by an accident are accompanied by massive blood loss. This life-threatening situation requires immediate, effective action to stop the bleeding – there is simply no time to reconstruct or suture the injured spleen, it must be removed immediately and the severed blood vessels sealed.
In addition, various internal diseases can be the cause of splenectomy. Many of these diseases have in common that they are accompanied by a severe enlargement of the spleen. As the size of the spleen increases, so does the risk of a spontaneous rupture of the spleen (splenic rupture), i.e. the organ simply “bursts”. Since this, similar to an accidental rupture of the spleen, would entail a life-threatening loss of blood, a precautionary removal of the spleen must be considered from a certain degree of enlargement. These include, for example, tumors or abscesses (splenic abscess, encapsulated accumulations of pus), but also some hematological diseases such as thalassemias, sickle cell anemia, ITP (Werlhof’s disease) and TTP (Moschcowitz syndrome).
