Spleen Enlargement
The spleen is located beneath the left side of your rib cage, between where the ribs stop and your navel. It can become larger than normal without any symptoms occurring whatsoever, but a severely large or inflamed spleen may begin to cause pain, discomfort, and a slight feeling of pressure on the right side of the abdomen.
Pain from spleen enlargement can also spread up to the shoulder and left arm as well.
The spleen performs several functions in the body related to the blood. It manufactures white blood cells to fight infection, stores platelet cells that help the blood clot, and acts as a filter by removing bad blood cells.
It is possible to live without a spleen, and in fact spleen removal through surgery is fairly common. Without a spleen to create enough cells that guard against disease, a person assumes a greater risk of serious infection occurring in the body.
In Crohn’s patients, an enlarged spleen is associated with the anemia and blood loss that also occur in sufferers of the disease. Irregular amounts of the different types of blood cells in the body are further skewed because once the organ becomes inflamed it cannot process or produce the cells in sufficient amounts.
Some drugs used in the treatment of Crohn’s disease, such as Remicade, are said to help reduce enlargement of the spleen. Other drugs that reduce general inflammation in the body may also be prescribed.
Surgery is an option, but one which carries some possible complications with it, including post-surgical infection. If left unchecked, however, an enlarged spleen could rupture, resulting in lethal levels of toxicity in the abdomen.