The spleen is a peripheral organ of hematopoiesis, where cell proliferation and differentiation occurs. Its main functions include:
- hematopoiesis;
- immunogenesis;
- immune surveillance of the cells and tissues of your own body.
Additionally, the spleen as a peripheral organ of hematopoiesis and immunogenesis performs the following functions:
- lymphocytopoiesis;
- Utilization of red blood cell antibodies and damaged white blood cells.
In addition, the organ is a kind of blood depot, is involved in its filtration. Based on the functional features, it can be assumed why the spleen is enlarged. In newborns, its size becomes larger on the second or third day after birth, which is the norm. This is quite physiological; in the future, organ growth will decrease.
Surgical treatment
An enlarged spleen can be detected by palpation, but the information obtained as a result of an ultrasound examination of the organ will be most reliable . Often, the size of the organ is increased due to the formation of a cyst. In this case, further actions will depend on its size.
If the size of the cyst is less than 3 cm, then the child is registered and observed by a doctor. In another case, immediate removal is required. At the same time, splenectomy can also be performed - removal of the spleen. If earlier the indications for surgery had extended borders, and the organ was cut out quite often, now the number of such cases has decreased. This is primarily due to the accumulation of information about the functions of the organ, its importance in the functioning of the immune system, proper treatment, when the spleen in a child is enlarged.
Causes
The reasons may be different, but the main one is infectious diseases. Often, an enlarged spleen occurs after diseases such as tuberculosis, syphilis, mononucleosis, typhoid fever.
An organ can change due to pathologies from the
hematopoietic system, organs of the cardiovascular system, with liver diseases and circulatory disorders. Quite often, an enlarged spleen is one of the signs of hemolytic anemia. As already mentioned at the beginning of the article, one of the functions of an organ is its participation in the disposal of old and damaged blood cells.
Accordingly, with
hemolytic anemia, when the hemolysis process is activated, the number of dead cells increases, and the tissue itself changes, where their partial destruction occurs. Therefore, if a child has an enlarged spleen at the same time, and there are such objective signs as a decrease in the number of red blood cells,
decreased hemoglobin, and hyperbilirubinemia, then this all indicates a possible development of hemolytic anemia. In this case, removing the organ is simply necessary to save the life of the child. It should be remembered that after splenectomy, the body is extremely susceptible to the action of infectious agents, in particular to the penetration of pneumococcal bacteria. Therefore, for 3-5 years, it is necessary to carefully monitor the health of the child, conduct timely immunization and other measures to prevent the development of
infectious processes.