Why splenectomy is done for thrombocytic purpura?
The spleen is an organ that sort of filters the blood and removes any old, damaged or abnormally shaped blood cells from the bloodstream. The components of the abnormal or old cells are then broken down and reused to make more blood tissue cells. The spleen has other functions as well but for this purpose simple is better. There is two reasons why a splenectomy would be a treatment for somebody with thrombocytic purpura. 1. The platelets have an antibody attached to it and the spleen recognizes the cell as being abnormal and it grabs it and recycles it. Because of this the person may not have enough platelets in their blood stream because they constantly have to make more and the bone marrow can’t keep up. They could bleed out because they don’t have enough platelets to stop the bleeding whether it is internal bleeding or bleeding from an external cause. 2. The spleen keeps grabbing the platelets and other cells get trapped and caught up with them and the spleen enlarges because it has
