After a splenectomy, you will be more prone to infections and your body will not fight them as easily. You will need to be diligent about seeking medical care for conditions that you may not have immediately sought treatment for in the past, such as sore throats, fever, sinus and ear infections, and other common infections.
Your doctor will probably recommend that you receive the vaccine to prevent pneumonia and may suggest additional vaccines, such as the meningitis vaccine. Your resistance to infection will likely improve within two years of your surgery, but it is unlikely that it will ever return to preoperative levels.
If you are seeing a new physician or being treated for an unrelated problem, be sure to let the doctor know that you do not have a spleen.
Sources:
After Your Spleen Has Been Removed: What You Need To Know To Protect Yourself. American Family Physician. http://www.aafp.org/afp/20010201/508ph.html
Congenital Spherocytic Anemia. MedLine Plus http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000530.htm
Spleen Removal. MedLine Plus http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002944.htm
Splenectomy. National Institutes of Health. [link ulr=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=surg.section.3057 ] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=surg.section.3057
