{"id":51587,"date":"2025-04-25T21:51:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T01:51:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hancockhealth.org\/mayo-health-library\/enlarged-spleen-splenomegaly\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T11:59:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T16:59:39","slug":"enlarged-spleen-splenomegaly","status":"publish","type":"mayo","link":"https:\/\/www.hancockhealth.org\/ja\/mayo-health-library\/enlarged-spleen-splenomegaly\/","title":{"rendered":"Enlarged spleen (splenomegaly)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"container mx-auto   wordpress-block wordpress- core-\">\n<p>Your spleen is an organ that sits just below your left rib cage. Many conditions &mdash; including infections, liver disease and some cancers &mdash; can cause an enlarged spleen. An enlarged spleen is also known as splenomegaly (spleh-no-MEG-uh-lee).<\/p>\n<p>An enlarged spleen usually doesn&#8217;t cause symptoms. It&#8217;s often discovered during a routine physical exam. A doctor usually can&#8217;t feel the spleen in an adult unless it&#8217;s enlarged. Imaging and blood tests can help identify the cause of an enlarged spleen.<\/p>\n<p>Treatment for an enlarged spleen depends on what&#8217;s causing it. Surgery to remove an enlarged spleen usually isn&#8217;t needed, but sometimes it&#8217;s recommended.<\/p>\n<p>An enlarged spleen typically causes no signs or symptoms, but sometimes it causes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pain or fullness in the left upper belly that can spread to the left shoulder<\/li>\n<li>A feeling of fullness without eating or after eating a small amount because the spleen is pressing on your stomach<\/li>\n<li>Low red blood cells (anemia)<\/li>\n<li>Frequent infections<\/li>\n<li>Bleeding easily<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>When to see a doctor<\/h3>\n<p>See your doctor promptly if you have pain in your left upper belly, especially if it&#8217;s severe or the pain gets worse when you take a deep breath.<\/p>\n<p>A number of infections and diseases can cause an enlarged spleen. The enlargement might be temporary, depending on treatment. Contributing factors include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Viral infections, such as mononucleosis<\/li>\n<li>Bacterial infections, such as syphilis or an infection of your heart&#8217;s inner lining (endocarditis)<\/li>\n<li>Parasitic infections, such as malaria<\/li>\n<li>Cirrhosis and other diseases affecting the liver<\/li>\n<li>Various types of hemolytic anemia &mdash; a condition characterized by early destruction of red blood cells<\/li>\n<li>Blood cancers, such as leukemia and myeloproliferative neoplasms, and lymphomas, such as Hodgkin&#8217;s disease<\/li>\n<li>Metabolic disorders, such as Gaucher disease and Niemann-Pick disease<\/li>\n<li>Pressure on the veins in the spleen or liver or a blood clot in these veins<\/li>\n<li>Autoimmune conditions, such as lupus or sarcoidosis<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>How the spleen works<\/h3>\n<p>Your spleen is tucked below your rib cage next to your stomach on the left side of your belly. Its size generally relates to your height, weight and sex.<\/p>\n<p>This soft, spongy organ performs several critical jobs, such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Filtering out and destroying old, damaged blood cells<\/li>\n<li>Preventing infection by producing white blood cells (lymphocytes) and acting as a first line of defense against disease-causing organisms<\/li>\n<li>Storing red blood cells and platelets, which help your blood clot<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>An enlarged spleen affects each of these jobs. When it&#8217;s enlarged, your spleen may not function as usual.<\/p>\n<p>Anyone can develop an enlarged spleen at any age, but certain groups are at higher risk, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Children and young adults with infections, such as mononucleosis<\/li>\n<li>People who have Gaucher disease, Niemann-Pick disease, and several other inherited metabolic disorders affecting the liver and spleen<\/li>\n<li>People who live in or travel to areas where malaria is common<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Potential complications of an enlarged spleen are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Infection.<\/strong> 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.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ruptured spleen.<\/strong> Even healthy spleens are soft and easily damaged, especially in car crashes. The possibility of rupture is much greater when your spleen is enlarged. A ruptured spleen can cause life-threatening bleeding in your belly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>An enlarged spleen is usually detected during a physical exam. Your doctor can often feel it by gently examining your left upper belly. However, in some people &mdash; especially those who are slender &mdash; a healthy, normal-sized spleen can sometimes be felt during an exam.<\/p>\n<p>Your doctor might order these tests to confirm the diagnosis of an enlarged spleen:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Blood tests,<\/strong> such as a complete blood count to check the number of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets in your system and liver function<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ultrasound or CT scan<\/strong> to help determine the size of your spleen and whether it&#8217;s crowding other organs<\/li>\n<li><strong>MRI<\/strong> to trace blood flow through the spleen<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Finding the cause<\/h3>\n<p>Sometimes more testing is needed to find the cause of an enlarged spleen, including a bone marrow biopsy exam.<\/p>\n<p>A sample of solid bone marrow may be removed in a procedure called a bone marrow biopsy. Or you might have a bone marrow aspiration, which removes the liquid portion of your marrow. Both procedures might be done at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>Liquid and solid bone marrow samples are usually taken from the pelvis. A needle is inserted into the bone through an incision. You&#8217;ll receive either a general or a local anesthetic before the test to ease discomfort.<\/p>\n<p>A needle biopsy of the spleen is rare because of the risk of bleeding.<\/p>\n<p>Your doctor might recommend surgery to remove your spleen (splenectomy) for diagnostic purposes when there&#8217;s no identifiable cause for the enlargement. More often, the spleen is removed as treatment. After surgery to remove it, the spleen is examined under a microscope to check for possible lymphoma of the spleen.<\/p>\n<p>Treatment for an enlarged spleen focuses on the what&#8217;s causing it. For example, if you have a bacterial infection, treatment will include antibiotics.<\/p>\n<h3>Watchful waiting<\/h3>\n<p>If you have an enlarged spleen but don&#8217;t have symptoms and the cause can&#8217;t be found, your doctor might suggest watchful waiting. You see your doctor for reevaluation in 6 to 12 months or sooner if you develop symptoms.<\/p>\n<h3>Spleen removal surgery<\/h3>\n<p>If an enlarged spleen causes serious complications or the cause can&#8217;t be identified or treated, surgery to remove your spleen (splenectomy) might be an option. In chronic or critical cases, surgery might offer the best hope for recovery.<\/p>\n<p>Elective spleen removal requires careful consideration. You can live an active life without a spleen, but you&#8217;re more likely to get serious or even life-threatening infections after spleen removal.<\/p>\n<h3>Reducing infection risk after surgery<\/h3>\n<p>After spleen removal, certain steps can help reduce your risk of infection, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A series of vaccinations before and after the splenectomy. These include the pneumococcal (Pneumovax 23), meningococcal and haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccines, which protect against pneumonia, meningitis and infections of the blood, bones and joints. You&#8217;ll also need the pneumococcal vaccine every five years after surgery.<\/li>\n<li>Taking penicillin or other antibiotics after your surgery and anytime you or your doctor suspects the possibility of an infection.<\/li>\n<li>Calling your doctor at the first sign of a fever, which could indicate an infection.<\/li>\n<li>Avoiding travel to parts of the world where certain diseases, such as malaria, are common.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Avoid contact sports &mdash; such as soccer, football and hockey &mdash; and limit other activities as recommended to reduce the risk of a ruptured spleen.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s also important to wear a seat belt. If you&#8217;re in a car accident, a seat belt can help protect your spleen.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, be sure to keep your vaccinations up to date because your risk of infection is increased. That means at least an annual flu shot, and a tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis booster every 10 years. Ask your doctor if you need other vaccines.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn about what your spleen does and what can happen if it becomes enlarged.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[1686,1685,1682],"class_list":["post-51587","mayo","type-mayo","status-publish","hentry","tag-anatomical-structure","tag-condition","tag-person-group-concept","content_type-diseases-conditions"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Enlarged spleen (splenomegaly) - Hancock Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hancockhealth.org\/ja\/mayo-health-library\/enlarged-spleen-splenomegaly\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ja_JP\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Enlarged spleen (splenomegaly) - 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