Apheresis donation

Apheresis (pronounced ay-fur-ee-sis) comes from the Greek word meaning, "to take away" or "to separate" and is a special type of blood donation. Instead of donating whole blood, the donor gives only a certain part or component, usually platelets or plasma.

This is an automated process where the donor's blood is collected, the red cells and plasma or platelets are separated and then the red cells are returned to the donor.

Donating plasma is a procedure called plasmapheresis while donating platelets is called plateletpheresis.

Donating by apheresis provides large quantities of plasma and/or platelets, and because these donors are not giving red cells they can donate more frequently. Plasmapheresis takes about 40 minutes while plateletpheresis can take about 100 minutes and can be done every 2 weeks.

The Process

Apheresis donation is much the same as whole blood donation. The blood is taken from one arm and channelled through a sterile, disposable kit housed in a special machine - a cell separator.

The separator automatically removes the required components from the donor's blood using a centrifuge and returns the rest to the donor using the same needle.

As blood is drawn during an apheresis donation, a substance called citrate is added to the blood to prevent clotting while the blood is outside the body. Some of the citrate is returned to the donor and may cause tingling around the mouth or coldness during the donation. These are temporary conditions only, and the citrate is broken down very quickly in the bloodstream.

All tubing, bags and needles used in the process are new, sterile and used only once. After use, they are destroyed.