Adverse Donor Reaction During and After Blood Donation at Tertiary Care Center-An Observational Study

BACKGROUND: Blood donation is an uneventful smooth procedure and normally tolerated very well when the history and preliminary examination is clear related to the health status of the donor. But, occasionally, adverse reactions of variable severity may occur during or at the end of donation. AIM: Aim of this study is to estimate the type of donor reaction and to consider steps to be taken to avoid the cause of unwanted donor reactions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study is conducted over a period of three years, from January 2016 to December 2018. The donor population consisted of 51, 413 donors, 48490 males and 2923 females. The minimum age for blood donation was 18 years and the maximum age in this study was 58 years. RESULTS: Overall a total of 228 adverse reaction events were reported in relation to the total of 51, 413 donations for an overall adverse reaction rate of 0.44 %. Of the 228 adverse reactions to blood donations 215 were observed in male while13 were observed in females. Out of 228 donor reactions 219 were replacement donors and only 09 were voluntary donor. Based on the type of blood donor reaction 146 reported giddiness, 23 reported venepuncture swelling, 21 had an episode of vomiting, 15 had sweating episodes, 12 reported nausea, 04 reported chills, 04 reported fainting attack, 03 felt cramps. CONCLUSIONS: Although the number of donors who developed disturbances during or at the end of blood donation was very low and was mostly mild type which resolved rapidly, it is nevertheless desirable to reduce risks to a minimum by following a set of advices provided for preventing problems associated with blood donation.