APHERESIS
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Its a type of donation which uses an automated technology to collect just the blood component needed.

What are the blood components?

There are four main components of blood - red blood cells, plasma, platelets and white blood cells.

• Red Blood Cells – Carries oxygen and nutrients to every cell. Most often, red blood cells are transfused to patients who have lost blood because of a trauma or surgery.

• Plasma – A plasma transfusion increases the blood's ability to clot and is most often used to treat bleeding disorders.

 

• Platelets – Platelets are given to patients when their blood doesn´t clot properly due to a disease or chemotherapy.

• White Blood Cells – When patients are suffering from life-threatening infections and aren't responding to antibiotics, they may be given white blood cells.

Frequently asked questions about apheresis platelet donation:

1 - What is the difference between platelets obtained by a whole blood donation and platelets obtained by apheresis?
In a platelet donation by apheresis you might obtain 6 to 8 times more platelets than platelets obtained from whole blood, without any harm to the donor.

2 – Who does need platelets transfusion?
Platelets are transfused in hematological patients, like leukemia patients and others cancer patients.

3 – Who can donate platelets by apheresis?
The medical requirements are the same needed for the whole blood donation.

4 - Platelet donation by apheresis can do any harm to the donor?
Platelet donation by apheresis is harmless for the donor. Within 48 h the donor`s bone marrow replaces all the donated platelets. This quick replacement permits a person to donate again in 72h. As the whole blood donation, needles and blood bags have a single use and are discarded. There is no risk of bacterial contamination.

5 – How long it takes to give platelets by apheresis ?
In general it takes 1 hour

Informations : DIAL BLOOD – 0800 282 0708

APHERESIS PLATELETS COLLECTIONS ARE AVAILABLE FROM MONDAYS TO FRIDAYS FROM 7 am TO 4 pm.