Pain in the spleen
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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The spleen is the most important organ in the human body, because it promotes proper metabolism and performs the function of a natural filter. Pain in the spleen signals a violation of the proper functioning of this organ, which, as a result, can lead to a partial loss of the body’s ability to resist diseases.
There are several main reasons that can lead to pain in the spleen.
- The 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, syphilis malaria and others.,
- Heart attack spleen. The cause of this disease may be the presence of blood clots in the artery, suitable for the spleen. With leukemia, diffuse diseases of the connective tissue, atherosclerosis, lymphosarcoma and some infectious diseases, the danger of getting a blood clot increases significantly. Symptoms of spleen thrombosis usually occur with inflammation of the organ.
- Splenic abscess. The disease begins to “gain momentum” with some consequences of infectious diseases. Complications in the work of the organ can occur 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.
- Spleen tuberculosis. Basically it is a consequence of miliary tuberculosis.
- Parasites. Single-chamber echinococcus is the most common type of parasitic disease of the spleen. With more advanced variants of the disease, gaps in the organ are possible. It is rather difficult to diagnose such cases, therefore methods of 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 the tumors practically do not make themselves felt. The dull pain in the spleen on the left side and the severity 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 certain organ pathologies, you should immediately contact the therapist who, after making a preliminary diagnosis, depending on the nature of the disease, will refer to the appropriate specialist: traumatologist, infectious diseases specialist, oncologist, hematologist or surgeon.