A ruptured spleen occurs when the surface of this organ is injured, which can lead to internal bleeding.
Others can be treated with several days of hospital care.A ruptured spleen is a medical emergency.

When the tear is less severe, the patient may become weak and experience pain across the abdomen or in the upper left portion. Sometimes there may be pain in the left shoulder due to irritation of the diaphragm that separates the chest and abdominal cavities. The ruptured spleen, a condition that can result from surprisingly minor injuries, has become known to doctors as a hidden time bomb that can kill anytime from hours to weeks afterward.


When it is removed, other organs in the body take over the spleen's normal functions.Others since. Without emergency treatment, the internal bleeding caused by a ruptured spleen can be life-threatening.Some people with ruptured spleens need emergency surgery.

Pain from the diaphragm often is felt in the shoulder.In cases where the diagnosis is not immediately clear, doctors may put a needle into the abdominal cavity to detect a pool of blood. Aristotle have found that the spleen filters about 350 quarts of blood each day, serving as a bodily graveyard for aged red blood cells.The spleen also can produce red cells, although the bone marrow is the place where most of these oxygen carrying cells are formed.Researchers now are investigating how the spleen makes some antibodies to combat infections and how the organ functions within the body's immunologic system.As a result of knowledge acquired in recent decades, surgeons now electively remove the spleens of patients suffering from some types of anemia and other blood disorders.But it is the knowledge about the potentially lethal dangers from a ruptured spleen that leads surgeons to consider an occasional unnecessary exploratory abdominal operation a small price to pay for the protection insured by splenectomy.TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers.This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996.

For example Mr. Snell's doctors said they gave him three blood transfusions despite the operation.The spleen is located in the upper left side of the abdomen, tucked in under the ribs. If you have an enlarged spleen, a less forceful trau… Your spleen, situated just under your rib cage on your left side, helps your body fight infection and filter old blood cells from your bloodstream.A forceful blow to your abdomen — during a sporting mishap, a fistfight or a car crash, for example — is the usual cause of a ruptured spleen. Delayed bleeding and spleen death may also result from a ruptured spleen. Since the spleen is so rich with blood flow, bleeding from a rupture can be signi… Internal bleeding can occur quickly and cause death if individuals do not have a ruptured spleen treated right away. The ruptured spleen, a condition that can result from surprisingly minor injuries, has become known to doctors as a hidden time bomb that can kill anytime from hours to weeks afterward.It was to save the life of Matt Snell, the New York Jet fullback, that surgeons removed his ruptured spleen in an emergency operation at Lenox Hill Hospital here Monday, the day after he suffered two cracked ribs and the ruptured spleen in a game against the Miami Dolphins.No one knows how many other professional football players have suffered ruptured spleens because the National Football League sees no reason to keep such records.

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