NEW JERSEY VS. PITTSBURGH COLORADO VS. ST. LOUIS

Friday, May 11 Spleen injuries dangerous but common Dr. Jerry Punch ESPN.com Probably the most common cause of injuries to the spleen is trauma suffered during a motor vehicle accident. But the forces involved don't have to be as violent as that. Athletes in sports that feature violent collisions, notably hockey and football, are susceptible as well. The spleen is like a big sponge. It is a vascular, blood-filled organ that has the function of filtering the blood. Because that is its specific purpose there is a very large supply of blood to the organ. Also, it is surrounded by a cellophane-like capsule. When a person receives blunt trauma to the lower left side of the abdomen, just beneath the ribcage, two things can happen. The spleen can rupture if the capsule surrounding it is torn, resulting in bleeding into the belly. Unless the injury is penetrating, though, this is fairly uncommon. The more common injury would be sustained in a sporting event or a fall by a blunt trauma, where the individual seems to have some discomfort but is OK for a period of hours. Soon after that, though, their blood-pressure would drop, their heart rate would increase and they would have more severe abdominal pain. At this point the individual usually recognizes that something serious is wrong and goes to the hospital. The procedure for the doctor, once the patient is able to be examined is to palpate, or press on, the abdomen to see if he can feel a large mass on the left side. If this is the case, the spleen is enlarged. At that point, as happened with Peter Forsberg, they will do a scan of the area to see if the trauma tore the inside of the spleen and if the organ is bleeding inside the capsule. That is called a capsular hemorrhage. Doctors have always been very careful in cases of trauma, especially car accidents, to palpate the spleen a few hours after the accident to ensure that it hasn't enlarged since patients don't always show symptoms right away. If the capsular hemorrhage occurs, the simplest treatment is to go in and remove the spleen. It is not an organ that humans need to survive. While even hematologists do not know all of the spleen's functions, they do know that we can live without it and its absence doesn't impact an individual on a daily basis at all. In fact, for an athlete in a contact sport, having your spleen removed is one less thing that can go wrong in the future. A splenectomy is a fairly simple and straightforward procedure, so it would seem that Forsberg sustained an impact during the game -- in hockey it would be very easy to be subjected to the injury in any number of ways, against the boards, with a stick, another player's shoulder or knee -- and didn't show symptoms for some hours after the game. When he did, he went to the hospital and received the appropriate care. Splenic injuries can actually go undetected for months if you don't get significant hemorrhage into the spleen so this is probably the best way a situation like this could play out for Forsberg. There is a part of the ribcage that is designed to protect the spleen. But the way athletes contort themselves opens them up to injuries of this sort. Usually pads are enough to take care of this risk but occasionally the athlete will move in such a way that they are unprotected in a collision. Though it's a serious medical situation, it can be treated immediately. While recovery time varies from case to case and Forsberg will miss the remainder of this season, he will be up and around in a few days and there should be no long-term effects from this injury that will limit his play next year. Dr. Jerry Punch is a NASCAR analyst for ESPN and is the director of emergency room services at Memorial Hospital-Flagler in Bunnell, Fla. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories

ALSO SEE Avs' Forsberg has spleen removed, out for playoffs Pang: Forsberg's loss is 'devastating'