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. 2007 Jul;5(3):143-52.
doi: 10.2450/2007.0005-07.

Adverse reactions during voluntary donation of blood and/or blood components. A statistical-epidemiological study

Antonio Crocco  1 , Domenico D'Elia
Affiliations

Adverse reactions during voluntary donation of blood and/or blood components. A statistical-epidemiological study

Antonio Crocco et al. Blood Transfus. 2007 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Voluntary donors normally tolerate blood donation very well, but, occasionally, adverse reactions of variable severity may occur during or at the end of the collection. Aim of this study was to estimate and possibly avoid the cause of unwanted reactions.

Materials and methods: The study was conducted over a period of 6 months, from 24(th) October, 2005 to 24(th) April 2006. The donor population analysed consisted of 4,906 donors (3,716 male and 1,190 female). In total, 3,983 (81%) voluntaries have donated whole blood, 851 (17%) plasma from apheresis, 64 (1.3%) experienced multicomponent donation, and 8 (0.1%) were donors of plasma-platelet apheresis.

Results: Only 63 donors (1.2% of all the volunteers) suffered some kind of adverse reaction: 59 (1.08% of the subjects) had mild reactions (agitation, sweating, pallor, cold feeling, sense of weakness, nausea), and only 4 (3 males and 1 female, 0.2%) had more severe disorders, including vomiting, loss of consciousness, and convulsive syncope.

Conclusions: Although the number of donors who developed disturbances during or at the end of blood donations was very low, it is nevertheless desirable to reduce risks to a minimum. A set of advices is provided for preventing problems.

Keywords: adverse reactions; blood donations; blood donors.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The percentages of different types of blood components produced during the period under consideration
Figure 2
Figure 2
The percentages of the different blood components produced, divided according to the gender of the donor
Figura 3
Figura 3
The percentages of different types of donor
Figure 4
Figure 4
Absolute frequency of mild or severe symptoms, stratified by gender, among the 63 subjects who had some kind of adverse reaction
Figure 5
Figure 5
Absolute frequency of the symptoms occurring in donors during or immediately after the donation
Figure 6
Figure 6
Absolute frequency of symptoms according to the gender of the donors. It can be seen that women develop adverse reactions during donation of blood more rarely than do men
Figure 7
Figure 7
Absolute frequency of the different types of treatment used
Figure 8
Figure 8
The order of appearance of the typical symptoms of a vasovagal reaction in a blood donor, which, if not treated promptly, evolves into syncope
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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