Spleen taken out

[Mds61811]

I did lot of research children with spleen taken out... it seem successful (my son is 6 will turn 7 in Nov we discovered he have ITP 3 weeks before his 5th bday) he was labeled chronic ITP it was very emotional time... No meds helps in longer period only good for month that's it. So if any if your children had their spleen taken out was it good or not.. Thank you.

[prudencepayes]

I'm an adult with ITP but I would suggest that you think very carefully before you have your son's spleen removed. Many children recover from ITP without any intervention anyway and he is very young. If he has the op he will be vulnerable to infections and probably need to take antibiotics for the rest of his life.

The operation is not always successful - if the platelets are being destroyed in the liver and not the spleen then it will not help to remove his spleen. There is a test called an 'indium test' that can determine where the platelets are being destroyed.

Finally, medical science in this field is moving very fast and many new treatments are being developed. My husband works in a pharmaceutical R&D environment and he assures me that there has been a massive push on new treatments for autoimmune disease. Hopefully there will soon be a safe solution to your son's problem. Good luck.

[jjjamesholder]

I would try everything else for a year before I took the child's spleen out. Not having a spleen is a bad thing. With children just waiting might fix the problem. Our bodies know how to fix themselves. Plus, new medicine is always coming forth.

I have written a lot about hyperbaric chamber treatments to fix most anything. They are costly but less than an operation to take out the spleen. Problem is the hyperbaric treatment is not covered by insurance. I paid $3,700 for 20 treatments in a high pressure 100% oxygen chamber. I noticed a small increase in my platelet counts. (33K to 41K) I will get a test again next week.