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The spleen is the largest collection of lymphoid tissue in the body. It is normally palpable in preterm infants, in 30% of normal, full-term neonates , and in 5% to 10% of infants and toddlers. A spleen easily palpable below the costal margin in any child over the age of three to four years should be considered abnormal until proven otherwise.
In human anatomy, the splenic artery or lienal artery, an older term, is the blood vessel that supplies oxygenated blood to the spleen. It branches from the celiac artery, and follows a course superior to the pancreas. It is known for its tortuous path to the spleen.
Although symptoms include an enlargement in the size of the spleen, [2] or a change from the spleen's original position to another location, usually in either other parts of the abdomen or into the pelvis. This ability to move to other locations is commonly attributed to the spleen's pedicle being abnormally long. [3]
Date/Time Thumbnail Dimensions User Comment; current: 16:37, 11 January 2016: 375 × 336 (117 KB): Cancer Research UK uploader: updated diagram style: 12:22, 12 January 2015
It produces bile, which is used to help process fats in the body. [9] Humans can live without the gallbladder. [10] The largest lymphatic organ is the spleen, which is dark purple and located under the lower ribs, around the left side of the upper abdomen. [11] [12] It filters the red blood cells by extracting old cells. [11] [12]
It is a crescent-shaped space, encompassed by the lower edge of the left lung, the anterior border of the spleen, the left costal margin and the inferior margin of the left lobe of the liver. Thus, its surface markings are respectively the left sixth rib superiorly, the left mid axillary line laterally, and the left costal margin inferiorly.
Anatomical position [ edit ] It crosses the abdomen from the ascending colon at the right colic flexure (hepatic flexure) with a downward convexity to the descending colon where it curves sharply on itself beneath the lower end of the spleen forming the left colic flexure (splenic flexure).
The fibroelastic coat of the spleen invests the organ, and at the hilum is reflected inward upon the vessels in the form of sheaths. From these sheaths, as well as from the inner surface of the fibroelastic coat, numerous small fibrous bands, the trabeculae of the spleen (or splenic trabeculae), emerge from all directions; these uniting, constitute the frame-work of the spleen.