What precautions should be taken during splenectomy?
What precautions should be taken during splenectomy?
If you have time before the surgery, you may need to receive blood transfusions to ensure that you have enough blood cells after your spleen is removed. Your doctor may also recommend that you receive a pneumococcal vaccine and possibly other vaccines to help prevent infection after your spleen is removed.
What is the most common early complication of open splenectomy?
These are reported with both open and laparoscopic splenectomy. Early postoperative complications include pulmonary complications (atelectasis to pneumonia), subphrenic abscess, ileus, portal vein thrombosis, thrombocytosis, thrombotic complications, and wound complications (hematomas, seromas, and wound infections).
What happens when you have your spleen removed?
Undergoing a spleen removal leaves you with a compromised, or weakened, immune system. Since infections can be more dangerous without a spleen, you may need yearly vaccines and prophylactic antibiotics. Prophylactic antibiotics are used to prevent a bacterial infection from occurring.
Which of the following is a complication of splenectomy?
Infections, particularly pulmonary and abdominal sepsis, constitute the majority of the complications. The mortality rate from postoperative sepsis is substantial. Atelectasis, pancreatitis/fistula, pulmonary embolism and bleeding at the operative site are also relatively common occurrences following splenic removal.
Is splenectomy a disability?
38 C.F.R. § 4.7. Under Diagnostic Code 7706, a splenectomy warrants a 20 percent disability rating. This diagnostic code also provides the instruction to rate complications such as systemic infections with encapsulated bacteria separately.
Does a splenectomy affect life expectancy?
Although the series of patients is small, it seems that splenectomy did not have an adverse effect on life expectancy. The haematological status and the quality of life improved after splenectomy in 17 of 19 patients.
How long is hospital stay for splenectomy?
The hospital stay may be only 1 or 2 days after a laparoscopic splenectomy. Healing will likely take 4 to 6 weeks. After going home, follow instructions on taking care of yourself or your child.
Does not having a spleen shorten your life?
Due to injury or necessary surgery (splenectomy), some people are lacking a spleen, the organ that filters the bloodstream and helps the body fight infection. You do not need your spleen to live a normal, healthy life.
Do you lose weight after a splenectomy?
Because of its location right next to the stomach, an enlarged spleen can press on the stomach, making someone feel not hungry, or they may get full after just a small amount of food. This can lead to weight loss.
How serious is a splenectomy?
If your spleen has to be taken out, you may have an increased risk of severe infection. The degree of risk depends on your age and if you have other diseases. Although your risk of infection is highest in the first two years after splenectomy, it stays high for the rest of your life.
Can you fight infection without a spleen?
You can normally cope with most infections without a spleen. The spleen is just one part of the immune (defence) system. Other parts of the immune system protect against most bacteria, viruses and other germs.
What vaccines do you need if you don’t have a spleen?
Yes! Both types of pneumococcal vaccine (Prevnar and Pneumovax) are recommended for you because you do not have a functioning spleen. If you haven’t received both vaccines, call your healthcare provider and schedule them now. The dose of Prevnar is given first, followed by 1 dose of Pneumovax at least 8 weeks later.
Can you donate blood if you have no spleen?
Can I donate? If your spleen was removed due to trauma or physical injury, you can donate six months after you’ve made a full recovery. If you received a blood transfusion as well, you’ll need to wait 12 months after the transfusion.
Can you play sports without a spleen?
You can live without a spleen. But because the spleen plays a crucial role in the body’s ability to fight off bacteria, living without the organ makes you more likely to develop infections, especially dangerous ones such as Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis, and Haemophilus influenzae.
Can you travel without a spleen?
If you have had your spleen removed (asplenic) or have a spleen that doesn’t function properly (hyposplenic) you may be at increased risk of certain bacterial infections, the risk of acquiring infection can be increased by travel.
What foods irritate the spleen?
It is important to avoid foods that are “damp”: alcohol, fat, fast sugars and excessive quantities of dairy products — for example, “fromage blanc,” which has a moisture content of 80%. The spleen is sensitive to erratic eating habits and can be weakened by skipping breakfast, copious or late dinners, and snacking.
What are the dangers of an enlarged spleen?
An enlarged spleen can reduce the number of healthy red blood cells, platelets and white cells in your bloodstream, leading to more frequent infections. Anemia and increased bleeding also are possible. Ruptured spleen. Even healthy spleens are soft and easily damaged, especially in car crashes.
What organ takes over after spleen removal?
After splenectomy, the functions of the spleen are usually taken up by other organs, such as the liver, bone marrow, and lymph nodes. Up to 30% of people have a second spleen (called as accessory spleen), these are usually very small but may grow and function when the main spleen is removed.
Can you have chemo without a spleen?
Anyone without a spleen is at greater risk of infection, but if you’ve had lymphoma and chemotherapy, your risk is even higher. This is because both chemotherapy and the lymphoma itself affect your immune system.
Can you drink alcohol after a splenectomy?
Do not drive or drink alcohol for 24 hours after your surgery.
What kind of doctor treats spleen problems?
For example, hematologists (doctors who specialize in treating blood disorders), oncologists (cancer specialists), and gastroenterologists (liver and digestive tract specialists) all commonly take care of patients who may have enlarged spleen as a response to another condition.
What is the best treatment for enlarged spleen?
If an enlarged spleen causes serious complications or the cause can’t be identified or treated, surgical removal of your spleen (splenectomy) may be an option. In chronic or critical cases, surgery may offer the best hope for recovery.
What are symptoms of spleen problems?
An enlarged spleen
- feeling full very quickly after eating (an enlarged spleen can press on the stomach)
- feeling discomfort or pain behind your left ribs.
- anaemia and fatigue.
- frequent infections.
- easy bleeding.
Can spleen problems cause weight gain?
In Chinese medicine, healthy weight depends often on the Spleen and Stomach. These areas are responsible for transportation/absorption of food and its transformation into energy. Problems in this important process will lead to excess weight.
Can stress cause an enlarged spleen?
“Stress appears to prompt the release of stem cells from the bone marrow to the spleen, where they develop into white blood cells, or monocytes, and expand over time,” Godbout said. “Then the spleen becomes a reservoir of inflammatory cells.”
What is Banti syndrome?
Banti syndrome is a disorder of the spleen, the large, gland-like organ in the upper left side of the abdomen that produces red blood cells before birth and, in newborns, removes and destroys aged red blood cells, and plays a role in fighting infection.
Does liver disease affect the spleen?
When the liver increases in size, it places extra pressure on the spleen. This pressure affects blood flow to the spleen, which can cause it to swell and get bigger. Also, the spleen is responsible for filtering bacteria and viruses. When these cause problems with the liver, they can also affect the spleen.
What is Felty’s syndrome?
Felty syndrome is a disorder that includes rheumatoid arthritis, a swollen spleen, decreased white blood cell count, and repeated infections. It is rare.
Can the spleen affect the heart?
The spleen, which is 4 inches long and sits in the upper abdomen, acts as a reservoir of immune cells that speed to the site of heart injury after a heart attack to begin clearance of damaged tissue. Those leukocytes can lead to either heart protection or pathology, depending on how the immune response progresses.