By the way . . . Do YOU know what the spleen does?
THE spleen doesn’t get much press — it rarely succumbs to cancer and life is compatible without it. While it sits anatomically in the belly beneath the left rib cage, a clinician will only ever be able to locate it if it’s swollen or inflamed. Then the spleen is elevated in status, calling the shots as to how unwell you are — sometimes with disastrous consequences.
My new-found interest in the spleen comes after some questions by a patient with regards to an ill relative. Why might they need their spleen out, would they survive it and why does an ‘innocuous’ organ suddenly become so significant. Most people have heard of the spleen but the majority will know little about its function, location and importance. The human body consist of organs without which you can’t survive, for example your heart, and paired organs where one takes up the slack when the other falters, such as the kidneys. Then there are other organs which we don’t need at all, such as the tonsils: we call these vestigial, they are evolutionary throwbacks.
The spleen is unusual — it is a not-so-vital, vital organ. It’s a dustbin, recycling centre and self-storage location for blood cells. It is also an immune centre. Life is entirely compatible without it but healthier with it. As a patient you are only ever going to hear about it if something has gone wrong. While primary cancer is rare in this fist- shaped four-inch organ, if your doctor examines you and says it is enlarged it may be a sign of cancer elsewhere.
If a physician puts a hand on your stomach and says they can feel your spleen, something is up. But life is compatible without it and on occasion it gets removed if it gets too big or it gets traumatised, for example, in a road traffic accident. As it is a very vascular structure this type of procedure carries significant risk.
You only realise the significance of the spleen once it’s stopped working for you. There’s no way of transplanting or regenerating it, what you see is what you get. All we can do is hope it remains and under the medical radar for our lifetime.