Sean Avery, a professional hockey player with the New York Rangers, made headlines this week when he was hospitalized with a lacerated spleen. An injury commonly associated with car accidents, a "torn" spleen can cause life-threatening bleeding.

Treatment for an injured spleen consists of three options: 1) watch the patient closely for bleeding and allow the injury to heal on its own 2) a partial splenectomy, a surgery that removes the damaged portion of the spleen while leaving the uninjured portion and finally 3) a total splenectomy, which removes the whole spleen.

The spleen, like the appendix, is not required by the human body, but does play a role in the creation and storage of red blood cells.

Sean still has his spleen, and is reported to be recovering nicely, but will be out of the game for at least a few weeks.