What is a spleen?

The spleen is an organ which is located in the upper left side of the abdomen. It helps the body to fight against certain bacterial infections.

Asplenia (without a spleen) may be congenital (born without a spleen) or because of splenectomy.

Splenectomy (removal of spleen) is done for many different reasons. Examples include trauma to the spleen, enlarged spleen as a result of certain medical conditions (such as Thalassaemia, Hereditary Spherocytosis). The enlarged spleen can cause problems such as discomfort, rupture, or pooling and destruction of blood cells in the enlarged spleen (known as ‘hypersplenism’).