While many are aware of the spleen, its exact location and vital functions often remain a mystery. Often overshadowed by more prominent organs, the spleen quietly plays several crucial roles in maintaining your health. You might have even heard the term “venting spleen,” referring to releasing anger, a phrase rooted in the old belief that the spleen was the source of temper. Fortunately, modern medicine has unveiled the spleen’s true purpose and location within our bodies, far beyond ancient metaphors.
Pinpointing Your Spleen: Anatomical Location
Your spleen resides in the upper left quadrant of your abdomen, nestled just behind your stomach and beneath your diaphragm, the muscle crucial for breathing. Imagine a small, smooth, purplish organ, shaped somewhat like a catcher’s mitt with rounded edges and a few notches along its upper front. This is your spleen.
The size of a healthy adult spleen typically measures around five inches in length, three inches in width, and one and a half inches in thickness. In terms of weight, it usually clocks in at about six ounces when healthy. However, the spleen is a dynamic organ. Certain infections and medical conditions can cause it to enlarge significantly, sometimes increasing its weight to as much as four pounds.
This capacity for enlargement is due to the spleen’s highly vascular nature. It’s rich in blood vessels, facilitating its close interaction with both your blood and lymphatic systems. This intricate network makes the spleen susceptible to various conditions, including infections, malignancies, liver disease, and parasitic infestations.
Delving into the Spleen’s Purpose: More Than Just Location
Despite its modest size, your spleen is a remarkably active organ, operating on the “front lines” of your body’s defense and maintenance systems. Its primary function is to act as a sophisticated filter for your blood. As blood circulates through your body and enters the spleen, it undergoes a rigorous “quality control” process.
The spleen identifies and removes old, misshapen, or damaged red blood cells. To achieve this, red blood cells must navigate a complex maze of narrow passages within the spleen. Healthy, functional red blood cells pass through this intricate network and continue their journey through your bloodstream. However, those cells that fail to meet the spleen’s stringent standards are broken down by specialized immune cells called macrophages. These macrophages are large white blood cells adept at engulfing and destroying these compromised red blood cells.
Demonstrating remarkable efficiency, the spleen conserves valuable components from these old cells, particularly iron. It stores iron in forms like ferritin and bilirubin, eventually returning it to your bone marrow, the site of hemoglobin production. Hemoglobin is the vital protein in red blood cells responsible for transporting oxygen from your lungs to every part of your body.
Beyond filtration, your spleen also serves as a blood reservoir. The blood vessels within the spleen possess the unique ability to expand or contract based on your body’s needs. When expanded, the spleen can hold up to a cup of reserve blood. In situations where your body requires extra blood volume, such as in cases of trauma-induced blood loss, the spleen can release this stored blood back into your circulation.
Furthermore, the spleen is a critical component of your immune system. Similar to its role in identifying faulty red blood cells, the spleen detects and targets unwelcome microorganisms, such as bacteria and viruses, circulating in your blood.
Upon detecting these invaders, the spleen, working in concert with your lymph nodes, swiftly mobilizes to create an army of defensive cells called lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell that produces antibodies. Antibodies are specialized proteins that neutralize or eliminate bacteria, viruses, and other infection-causing organisms. These antibodies and white blood cells work to contain infections and prevent their spread throughout the body by trapping and destroying pathogens.
Life Without a Spleen: Adaptability and Precautions
Although the spleen performs many vital functions, it is not considered a vital organ in the strictest sense. In certain situations, surgical removal of the spleen, known as a splenectomy, becomes necessary. This may occur due to spleen injury or as part of surgical procedures involving other organ transplants.
Fortunately, other organs in your body, such as your lymph nodes and liver, can compensate for many of the spleen’s functions. However, because the spleen plays a significant role in the immune system, individuals without a spleen are more susceptible to infections. Therefore, doctors typically recommend extra precautions for those who have undergone splenectomy. These precautions often include vaccinations to bolster immunity and prophylactic daily oral antibiotics to prevent infections. Despite these increased risks, many individuals live full and healthy lives without a spleen, demonstrating the body’s remarkable adaptability.
Learn more about the liver and its functions.
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To request an appointment, or make a referral to the Hillman Center for Pediatric Transplantation at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, contact our referral transplant coordinators:
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