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Spleen pain
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
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The spleen is the most important organ in the human body, because it promotes proper metabolism and acts as a natural filter. Pain in the spleen signals a disruption in the proper functioning of this organ, which, ultimately, can lead to a partial loss of the body's ability to resist diseases.
There are several main causes that can lead to pain in the spleen.
- Consequences of infectious diseases. Most often, pain in the spleen and its damage are caused by infectious diseases of other organs. Among such infections: typhoid and typhus, sepsis, anthrax, infectious mononucleosis and lymphocytosis, hepatitis, malaria, syphilis and others.
- Splenic infarction. The cause of this disease may be the presence of blood clots in the artery approaching the spleen. With leukemia, diffuse connective tissue diseases, atherosclerosis, lymphosarcoma and some infectious diseases, the risk of getting a blood clot increases significantly. Usually, the symptoms of splenic thrombosis appear with inflammation of the organ.
- Spleen abscess. The disease begins to “gain momentum” with some consequences of infectious diseases. Complications in the functioning of the organ may arise after endocarditis, salmonellosis, post-infarction infections, inflammation of the spleen capsule after injuries, with hemoglobinopathies, sickle cell anemia. The first sign of an organ abscess is fever, as well as severe pain in the left side and chest. Symptoms may be accompanied by damage to the muscles of the anterior abdominal wall and splenomegaly.
- Tuberculosis of the spleen. Mainly a consequence of miliary tuberculosis.
- Parasites. Single-chamber echinococcus is the most common type of parasitic disease of the spleen. In more advanced cases of the disease, ruptures in the organ are possible. It is quite difficult to diagnose such cases, so computed tomography and ultrasound are usually used.
- Tumors. Among the most common tumors, doctors note hemangioma, lymphangioma and fibroma (benign tumors) and lymphomas (malignant tumors). Usually, at first, tumors practically do not make themselves known. Dull pain in the spleen on the left side and heaviness already indicate that you should immediately consult a doctor.
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Who to contact?
If pain occurs in the spleen and all this is accompanied by persistent symptoms indicating some pathology of the organ, you should immediately contact a therapist who, after making a preliminary diagnosis, depending on the nature of the disease, will refer you to the appropriate specialist: a traumatologist, infectious disease specialist, oncologist, hematologist or surgeon.