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Post- splenectomy Pains

Posted , 15 users are following.

Damzie
Damzie

I had an emergency splenectomy in 2013 due to the trauma to my left side in a pretty bad accident. My spleen was ruptured and it had to be taken out to save me. But I've been having pains in my abdomen...begins on the left side and grows from that point to my back and other parts of my abdomen. I've been in and out of the hospital until last Sunday, all the diagnosis and prognosis aren't what it is. Is anyone experiencing this? I am up to date on vaccines and all.

I can neither lie down nor seat when it begins, I can only kneel forward to ease the pain. I throw up several times and passed out a few times too. I have used so many painkillers including tramadol and pentazo, which is injected.

I believe most doctors here don't know how to manage a patient with my condition.

1 like, 19 replies

19 Replies

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  • Wheelo
    Wheelo Damzie

    Posted

    cmw76 may well be right. I had my spleen removed 18 years ago as a result of trauma and I suffer pretty bad cramping and aches - but nothing on the level you described. I've had scans and xrays which have shown nothing, but the pain is real. Because adhesions have no blood supply they do not show up well on scans etc. Sever adhesions can impact on the bowel and lead to your symptoms. I had my appendix out a couple of years ago and it was only at this time that doctors realised I had a lot of adhesions. One thing I have found that helps is constipation remedies. Nothing dramatic - one every two to three days usually works for me to stop me feeling bloated and sore - though I do still get the odd bad day.

    • Damzie
      Damzie Wheelo

      Posted

      Thanks Wheelo. I'm going to have an endoscopy done . Saw a doctor today who said it might be intestinal obstruction or Peptic ulcer. He has prescribed some drugs and a list of DON'Ts pending when I get an appointment at the endoscopy centre.

      The pain is REAL but most people don't understand. Some say it's phantom pain...almost bit a doctor for saying "the pain is all in your head". Lol.

    • Wheelo
      Wheelo Damzie

      Posted

      Bottom line is they moved stuff around that's not supposed to be touched ever. As I said I've had nothing as severe as you but still find it wearing - can only imagine how tough it is. Hopefully this will sort it out.

      Good luck

  • david75uk
    david75uk Damzie

    Posted

    Hi,

    My wife had her spleen out in 2014 due to a severe accident and she has suffered with abdominal pains which has been attributed to adhesions on her intestines but quite often she has a pain to her left side just below her ribs which can become very painful and she also suffers from varying degrees of constipation at times, she also gets pain in her lower abdomen like period pains but we do not seem to be getting any follow up care, nobody seems to be overviewing what is going on and we are trying to get referrals and appointments now back to the hospital to see if we can get some of these issues looked at because the pain under her ribs causes her to be in agony and it seems beyond the GP, who quite often will just put it down to the medication that she is on,... after reading your post we were curious if you had gone for the endoscopy and if it had found anything or if you have had any follow up as we noticed your post was 5 months ago?

    Thank you,

    David

  • smitha1601
    smitha1601 Damzie

    Posted

    Hi

    My father has gone through splectonomy open surgery. He is 71. The surgery happened as an emergency and now the closure surgery is done..just one month back. After one month he is developing pus at the surgery place and having severe pains. Does anyone know what could be the reason. The doctor said it's superficial. ..but I am not able to trust and understand if superficial why will my father go through severe pain since a week

  • clare11182
    clare11182 Damzie

    Posted

    I just wanted to touch base to see if you have anything that you could report from the endoscopy that you reported you were going to have.  My daughter had her spleen removed as a result of being hit by a car in November of this year.  She has sharp pain that occurs just under her rib cage, she has pain in her shoulder, she has pain if she burps or hiccups, her skin feels sensitive in that area and now is experiencing some pretty extreme back pain on that side.  Right now we are not confident that her doctor knows how to help her or even believes that the pain is real.  Did you ever get any answers or relief?
    • anne79870
      anne79870 clare11182

      Posted

      Hi, 

      I’m having similar symptoms. Did you figure out what was wrong? Thanks!

    • isabelle65882
      isabelle65882 anne79870

      Posted

      In my case it was numerous dense adhesions to the diaphragm.  All same symptoms as above.  My spleen is also stuck to my omentum.

      I talk about it on my blog but if I give the link here I get deleted.  

    • anne79870
      anne79870 isabelle65882

      Posted

      How soon after your splenectomy did the adhesions form? I just had my spleen removed 3 weeks ago. I’m having a very slow recovery with lots of strange pains. Maybe it’s just part of the healing process? I would love to read your blog - how can I find it ?
    • isabelle65882
      isabelle65882 anne79870

      Posted

      My recovery was the pits right off the bat and got worst as time went on.

      Have a look at the health news blog post on accidentallycrafty (dot) ca. If I get deleted again I’ll try to find another way to share it with you.  It’s a little dumb!

    • anne79870
      anne79870 isabelle65882

      Posted

      Hi, thanks for sharing the blog info. I read through it and it’s not dumb. You sound like a strong, courageous woman who has been through the medical ringer. I look forward to following your progress.  

      Like I said, I’m just 3(And a half) weeks out from the surgery and keep having strange, new aches and pains. The anxiety is almost worse than the pain. 

      I don’t care for tea but if I did, I would try David’s - that was nice what they did for you!

    • clare11182
      clare11182 anne79870

      Posted

      Sorry, I just saw this.  Well, it turns out that my daughter ended up with a large abscess around the area of the spleen (which had been removed).  She is now nearing the end of another month stay in the hospital to receive the intravenous antibiotics necessary to kill the bacteria.  So, once they decided she can be released we will see if there are any more symptoms that crop up.  This was a complication, to be sure, but it is becoming apparent that a splenectomy is not an easy thing to recover from.
    • patti29074
      patti29074 isabelle65882

      Posted

      Did you have pains in sternum, under breasts? I had the open splenectomy in 1990 for autoimmune disease. Since then, my surgical scar has always felt tight, but that has resolved. I have had this sternal pain over past month. I have always had pain at upper part of surgical scar, but definitely worse. I am also wondering if I have adhesions? 
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