The Laparoscopic splenectomy is one of the most common surgical procedures which are performed to remove the spleen. The surgery takes place with the help of some specialized surgery tools along with the little camera monitor.

The spleen is one of the essential organs which are located upper left side of the abdominal region just below the rib cage. The primary responsibility of this organ is to prevent infection by removing the waste materials such as old or damaged blood cells in the body.

What are the reasons to perform Laparoscopic Splenectomy?

The most common reasons to perform the surgery are listed below,

• Enlarged spleen which may cause pain and a fullness feeling
• Blood disorders in seerious conditions like idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, polycythemia Vera and thalassemia.
• Cancer, especially in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, lymphocytic leukemia, Hodgins, or non-hodking’s lymphoma along with hairy cell leukemia.
• Large non-cancer causing cysts or tumor cells
• Inflammation is the spleen, which is caused by severe infection, which leads to the formation of pus.

How to prepare yourself for this surgery?

The patient would be tested for physiological function before the surgery. The medications which you are consuming in the current period will be reviewed by the surgeon. The destruction of red blood cells and platelets will be noted. Along with them, X-Ray, CT scan are also performed.

How to perform the Laparoscopic splenectomy?

• You will be made unconscious by anyone of the general anesthesia initially.
• Then the surgeon will make four small incisions in your abdominal region.
• A laparoscopic tube which is attached with the tiny little camera is inserted into the abdomen through one of the four incisions made.
• Some special surgical tools are inserted through the other three incisions.
• The surgeon may have the chance to monitor inside through the camera in the tube.
• Following the above steps, the spleen would be finally removed along with the camera and other surgery tools.
• This procedure is not suitable if you are suffering from spleen rupturing, as it could be done only with the open system.

What to expect after the surgery?

Though the spleen will be absent after the surgery, its responsibilities would be automatically moving over to the other organs. You could live a healthy life even after the spleen is removed.
But there are high chances of getting infected without the spleen. If you get ill or even catch a cold, it may take a longer time than needed to recover from the illness. The doctor will be prescribing some vaccines against infections such as Pneumonia, Influenza to prevent the disease.