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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Should A Child Be Protected If Having An Enlarged Spleen?

My son is 9yrs old & has spherocytosis, he has an enlarged spleen. He plays football and now wants to play rugby should we be worried about not wearing a spleen guard. He also has crohns so the option of spleen removal has now been put on the back burner. Thanks
posted on Mon, 13 Oct 2014
Twitter Wed, 19 Nov 2014 Answered on
Twitter Wed, 19 Nov 2014 Last reviewed on
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Pediatrician,  's  Response
You are caught between a rock and a hard place. Splenectomy would improve the spherocytosis but the presence of Crohns puts the halt on that. Is the diagnosis of Crohns a firm one or one in progress? Has he been tested for celiac disease? Independent of the above issues, football and rugby are high risk sports for any 9 year old and recurrent concussions have occurred more often that we like in both. Would your son consider an alternative sport such as a martial art or swimming for example. If he were my patient, I would discourage the football and rugby even if we were not worried about his spleen.
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Should A Child Be Protected If Having An Enlarged Spleen?

You are caught between a rock and a hard place. Splenectomy would improve the spherocytosis but the presence of Crohns puts the halt on that. Is the diagnosis of Crohns a firm one or one in progress? Has he been tested for celiac disease? Independent of the above issues, football and rugby are high risk sports for any 9 year old and recurrent concussions have occurred more often that we like in both. Would your son consider an alternative sport such as a martial art or swimming for example. If he were my patient, I would discourage the football and rugby even if we were not worried about his spleen.