Symptoms:

An enlarged spleen does not cause many symptoms, and the symptoms that it does cause may be mistaken for many other medical conditions. Because the enlarged spleen lies next to the stomach and sometimes presses against it, people may feel full after eating a small snack or even without eating. People may also have abdominal or back pain in the area of the spleen. The pain may spread to the left shoulder, especially if parts of the spleen do not get enough blood and start to die.

When the spleen removes too many blood cells and platelets from the bloodstream, a variety of problems may develop. These problems include anemia as a result of too few red blood cells, frequent infections as a result of too few white blood cells, and the tendency to bleed as a result of too few platelets.