Does Spleen Removal Affect Pregnancy?

Posted on Fri, 27 Dec 2013

Question: Hi, I have question/suggestion related to my one of my female family member. Your help will be much appreciated. 1. Due to problem (family heredity) her spleen was removed @ year 2005 (around 25 years of age). 2. Is this major medical concern? She did not face any problem with respect to infection till today (around age 33 years). Her hemoglobin usually around between 12-14… 3. Do we need to any test/medicine/injection on periodic basic? 4. Is there any major problem in pregnancy? If yes, then what are things needs to be taken care before/during/after pregnancy? 5. Please let me know if anything else needs to be taken care.

Answered by Dr. Vaishalee Punj (7 hours later)

Brief Answer: Hi Detailed Answer: Hi Thanks for posting your query on XXXXXXX I have read your query. I will try to answer your questions as best as I can. Q. Is this major medical concern? She did not face any problem with respect to infection till today (around age 33 years). Her hemoglobin usually around between 12-14… A. It does predispose the person to some complications like infections, thromboembolic episodes, pulmonary hypertension, etc. Thromboembolic episodes and pulmonary hypertension usually happen immediately after operation. While infections may happen even long time after operation. Q. Do we need to any test/medicine/injection on periodic basic? A. Since infection with encapsulated bacteria may happen after splenectomy, vaccinations for these infections needs to be taken every 5 years for streptococcus pneumoniae, H influenzae type B and meningococcus. Since she is an adult and did not have any episode till now, it means that she has sufficient antibodies to protect her against these infections. Antibiotics need to be taken daily if there are insufficient antibodies against these infections which is usually the case in kids <5 yrs old and immunocompromised patients. Tests are usually not needed if there are no symptoms of any complications. Q. Is there any major problem in pregnancy? If yes, then what are things needs to be taken care before/during/after pregnancy? A. Usually no complications occur during pregnancy. Sometimes pneumococcal infection may occur. Some studies have shown a higher risk of premature delivery, delivery with cesarean section, a condition called pre-eclampsia. Again she will need the vaccines during pregnancy for above stated infections. Q. Please let me know if anything else needs to be taken care. A. Mostly infections are viral in nature and do not need antibiotics. But sometimes bacterial infections may occur and can go out of control. In such a case strong antibiotics will be needed. An annual flu vaccine will protect against seasonal flu. Hope it helps. Let me know if I can assist you further. Regards Dr Vaishalee

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar