| A： | Apheresis donation is another form of blood donation. A donor can choose to donate a certain component of blood (platelet or plasma). |
| A： | The procedures of apheresis donation and ordinary donation are similar.
First, whole blood will be taken from the donor. It will then be put into a blood cell separator which will separate the whole blood into components of different proportion. The rest of the blood will then be returned to the donor via the same venepuncture. The separated and taken blood components include: |
As illustrated in the above diagram, the blood collected will be put into a blood cell separator. The whole blood will automatically be separated into different blood components (plasma, platelets, white cells and red cells). The required components will then be removed and the rest will be returned to the donor.
| A： | The procedure of apheresis donation is absolutely safe.
The needle, blood bag and duct used for blood donation are all sterilized and are disposed of once used. There is a large quantity of plasma and platelets in human blood. After giving a certain quantity of plasma/platelets, the body will automatically be replenished with the components donated. Therefore, apheresis donation will not have negative impact on health. |
| A： | Regardless of whole blood donation or apheresis donation, donors may feel a little discomfort during venesection. However, it is not painful for the rest of the time. |
| A： | Some donors may feel their lips and face numb and this is because when blood is returned to the body, the latter has a slight reaction to anticoagulant. However, it has no negative impact on health. This numb feeling can be prevented if calcium tablets or milk is taken prior to donation. |
| A： | It takes a bit longer than ordinary blood donation. Plateletpheresis takes about 45 minutes while plasmapheresis takes about 30 minutes. |
| A： | (1) Good health (2) Aged above 18 (3) Body weight over 55kg (4) Have donated whole blood before and has no adverse reactions (5) No aspirin type medication is taken 72 hours before donation (applicable for plateletpheresis) |
| A： | Regardless of donating plasma or platelet, donor should leave an interval of 31 days before the next donation. Should whole blood be donated, donor can only have apheresis donation 56 days after whole blood donation. |
| A： | (1) patients with leukaemia (2) patients with haemorrhagic diseases after receiving cancer treatment or cardiac surgery (3) patients with haemorrhagic symptoms due to decrease in platelets |
| A： | (1) patients with trauma and burn (2) patients with cancer (3) patients need to undergo organ transplant or heart surgery (4) patients with haemophilia |
Give others an opportunity to live again, please donate blood!
