Severe donor reaction as a hazard of replacement blood donation

Abstract

Blood donation is generally considered to be a safe procedure, but occasionally adverse reactions of varying severity may occur predonation, donation, or postdonation phases. Various studies have reported the incidence of adverse donor reaction as 0.6%–5.6%. Donor reactions are classified into mild, moderate, and severe types or immediate and delayed. Although delayed reactions account for <2% of total adverse donor reactions, 27.6% are severe with or without injury. Herein, we report a case of potentially preventable delayed Grade 2 vasovagal reaction in a 56-year-old replacement blood donor.

Keywords

• donor reaction
• head injury
• replacement donation