Emergency surgery for Ballan - Spleen removal & punctured lung!

[TNT1]

Alessandro Ballan (BMC) was descending the Coll de Rates, north of Benidorm on Thursday when he crashed at high-speed leaving him with a broken leg, broken rib and an injured spleen.

According to BMC Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Max Testa, the Italian will require two separate surgeries with the removal of Ballan's spleen the most urgent.

Ballan was taken to hospital by team doctor Dario Spinelli where he was found to have suffered a mid-shaft, displaced fracture of his left femur, a fracture of his ninth rib and some abdominal trauma.

"The broken rib actually made a small puncture in his lung," Dr. Testa said. "The first priority is the spleen injury - that is considered a medical emergency."

 

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/emergency-surgery-for-ballan-after-high-speed-crash

[Pieterg]

Eina sounds bad

[Jaco-fiets]

Sounds eina! When i had a crash in Feb i had to spend night in hospital after couple of scans so d could decide if he had to remove spleen or not. Did not sleep at all

[V12man]

Ouch... I have some sympathy for him today because I fell on the stairs yesterday and my ankle is black and blue and swollen - no riding for a while - not good for epic training either...

[TNT1]

What the heck does a spleen do anyway?

[Bigfish]

The purpose of the spleen is to filter and store blood. It can also produce lymphocytes, which are while blood cells that can in turn produce antibodies to protect the body against foreign invaders or infections.

[V12man]

What the heck does a spleen do anyway?

 

Not a huge amount - mostly as a filter and resovoir for blood - few complications from removal, except sometimes a small reduction in immunity.

 

The spleen is fairly soft, and ruptures easily from the right angle of blow if it is hard enough - does not heal well and difficult to suture a rupture - much safer and lower risk to remove it completely than a spleen that leaks blood from a rupture.

[Cippo]

A ruptured spleen can be the end of you. I hope they can fix that femur fracture which normally requires pins to be inserted. Could be a career ender, lets hope not.

[TNT1]

Ok, great.

 

I hope all the best for Horse face Ballan.

 

Now, where exactly is my spleen, so I know where to avoid being punched?

[Cippo]

Ok, great.

 

I hope all the best for Horse face Ballan.

 

Now, where exactly is my spleen, so I know where to avoid being punched?

 

Divide your abdominal area into four quadrants with belly button as center. Top left quadrant is the one. Not my left, your left. Sits next to your stomach.

[HappyMartin]

Ouch, that's got to make your eyes water.

[tombeej]

No, it's not correct to say that the spleen is not important. It certainly is.

 

For those of us who freedive or spearfish, we soon get to learn all about the spleen and splenic contractions, and how that affects our ability to dive longer and deeper. And it can be trained. Experienced freedivers do have stronger splenic contractions than newbies. When you know what to feel for, you can actually sense the contraction happen on the way down as +20% more red blood cells gets pumped into your system.

 

Back to cycling. Here's an abstract from a medical study that was published in Sports Medicine in 2002:

 

http://adisonline.co...l_Stress.2.aspx

 

Many mammals have the ability to autotransfuse a large quantity of red blood cells from the spleen into the active circulation during times of stress. This enhancement of the oxygen transport system has benefited the athletic mammal, that is, the thoroughbred horse, fox and greyhound in an improved aerobic performance. The role of the spleen in sequestering 50% of the total red cell volume in seals and horses, during times of inactivity, dramatically reduces the viscosity of the blood and therefore the work of the heart. In comparison, the human spleen contains only a small percentage of red blood cells, and has been primarily thought of as a lymphoid organ.

The aim of this review is to emphasise the similarities between the human spleen and that of several athletic mammalian species during acute physiological stress. In the athletic mammalian model the expulsion of blood from the spleen is facilitated via the sympathetic nervous system resulting in contraction of smooth muscle within the splenic capsule. In comparison, the lack of smooth muscle contained within the human splenic capsule has meant that active contraction of the spleen has historically been viewed as unlikely, although evidence of contractile proteins within the red pulp have suggested otherwise.

Exercise results in haemoconcentration, which has been attributed solely to a reduction in plasma volume. Indirect calculation of plasma volume changes utilise haemoglobin and haematocrit and assume that the circulating red cell volume remains constant. However, several studies have suggested that the human spleen could account for 30% of the increase in haematocrit. This would result in a substantial overestimation of the reduction in plasma volume, indicating that the expulsion of red blood cells from the spleen must not be overlooked when utilising these equations.

 

For a pro cyclist to lose his spleen, well I think that's potentially career-ending.

Edited December 21, 2012 by tombeej

[tombeej]

I remember one of my team mates in our U15 rugby team took a bad tackle and was off to hospital. We heard later he'd ruptured his spleen and it had to be removed. It was explained to us that he would lead a normal life even without a spleen, but that his sport career was pretty much over. He never played rugby again, or much of anything else, for the rest of his high school years.

Edited December 21, 2012 by tombeej

[Dr Snuggles]

No, it's not correct to say that the spleen is not important. It certainly is.

 

For those of us who freedive or spearfish, we soon get to learn all about the spleen and splenic contractions, and how that affects our ability to dive longer and deeper. And it can be trained. Experienced freedivers do have stronger splenic contractions than newbies. When you know what to feel for, you can actually sense the contraction happen on the way down as +20% more red blood cells gets pumped into your system.

 

Back to cycling. Here's an abstract from a medical study that was published in Sports Medicine in 2002:

 

http://adisonline.co...l_Stress.2.aspx

 

Many mammals have the ability to autotransfuse a large quantity of red blood cells from the spleen into the active circulation during times of stress. This enhancement of the oxygen transport system has benefited the athletic mammal, that is, the thoroughbred horse, fox and greyhound in an improved aerobic performance. The role of the spleen in sequestering 50% of the total red cell volume in seals and horses, during times of inactivity, dramatically reduces the viscosity of the blood and therefore the work of the heart. In comparison, the human spleen contains only a small percentage of red blood cells, and has been primarily thought of as a lymphoid organ.

The aim of this review is to emphasise the similarities between the human spleen and that of several athletic mammalian species during acute physiological stress. In the athletic mammalian model the expulsion of blood from the spleen is facilitated via the sympathetic nervous system resulting in contraction of smooth muscle within the splenic capsule. In comparison, the lack of smooth muscle contained within the human splenic capsule has meant that active contraction of the spleen has historically been viewed as unlikely, although evidence of contractile proteins within the red pulp have suggested otherwise.

Exercise results in haemoconcentration, which has been attributed solely to a reduction in plasma volume. Indirect calculation of plasma volume changes utilise haemoglobin and haematocrit and assume that the circulating red cell volume remains constant. However, several studies have suggested that the human spleen could account for 30% of the increase in haematocrit. This would result in a substantial overestimation of the reduction in plasma volume, indicating that the expulsion of red blood cells from the spleen must not be overlooked when utilising these equations.

 

For a pro cyclist to lose his spleen, well I think that's potentially career-ending.

 

so essentially its god-given EPO? hotdamn, tell the UCI to give that man his medals back..

[Danger Dassie]

Ouch, that's got to make your eyes water.

 

Try this, was covering a story with a mate/colleague. Attention started to focus on us and we were taking some flak. As we get ready to exit, a rock hits him square in the stomach, him effing and blinding as we hoof it trips and rips his nut sack.

 

End result, he has a ruptured spleen and 6 stitches in his 'swimmers pouch' ... hows those watering eyes?

 

That aside, wishing a good recovery to Ballen!

[Kranswurm]

No, it's not correct to say that the spleen is not important. It certainly is.

 

For those of us who freedive or spearfish, we soon get to learn all about the spleen and splenic contractions, and how that affects our ability to dive longer and deeper. And it can be trained. Experienced freedivers do have stronger splenic contractions than newbies. When you know what to feel for, you can actually sense the contraction happen on the way down as +20% more red blood cells gets pumped into your system.

 

Back to cycling. Here's an abstract from a medical study that was published in Sports Medicine in 2002:

 

http://adisonline.co...l_Stress.2.aspx

 

Many mammals have the ability to autotransfuse a large quantity of red blood cells from the spleen into the active circulation during times of stress. This enhancement of the oxygen transport system has benefited the athletic mammal, that is, the thoroughbred horse, fox and greyhound in an improved aerobic performance. The role of the spleen in sequestering 50% of the total red cell volume in seals and horses, during times of inactivity, dramatically reduces the viscosity of the blood and therefore the work of the heart. In comparison, the human spleen contains only a small percentage of red blood cells, and has been primarily thought of as a lymphoid organ.

The aim of this review is to emphasise the similarities between the human spleen and that of several athletic mammalian species during acute physiological stress. In the athletic mammalian model the expulsion of blood from the spleen is facilitated via the sympathetic nervous system resulting in contraction of smooth muscle within the splenic capsule. In comparison, the lack of smooth muscle contained within the human splenic capsule has meant that active contraction of the spleen has historically been viewed as unlikely, although evidence of contractile proteins within the red pulp have suggested otherwise.

Exercise results in haemoconcentration, which has been attributed solely to a reduction in plasma volume. Indirect calculation of plasma volume changes utilise haemoglobin and haematocrit and assume that the circulating red cell volume remains constant. However, several studies have suggested that the human spleen could account for 30% of the increase in haematocrit. This would result in a substantial overestimation of the reduction in plasma volume, indicating that the expulsion of red blood cells from the spleen must not be overlooked when utilising these equations.

 

For a pro cyclist to lose his spleen, well I think that's potentially career-ending.

Thanks for that .Most informative