Norwegian Knowledge Centre of the Health Services
Surveillance of blood in Norway. Blood donor complications 2011
Report
|Updated
The purpose of this report is to form the knowledge basis for the continuous improvement of the transfusion services.
Summary
The Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services runs the Norwegian Haemovigilance System on behalf of the Norwegian Directorate of Health. One of our tasks is to publish an annual report. The purpose of this report is to form the knowledge basis for the continuous improvement of the transfusion services.
The 2012 report is divided into sub reports. This sub report is about complications in blood donors. Background and method are described in a separate report (2). A total of 171 reports of complications in blood donors were received in 2012 (78 complications per 100 000 blood donations), 129 systemic and 45 local complications related to the venipuncture site. In three cases the blood donor suffered from both systemic and local reactions. Eight complications were defined as serious according to the definitions in the European blood directive (3,7 per 100 000 blood donations).
According to the definitions proposed by the Norwegian Haemovigilance Working Group (11), a total of 53 events were defined as serious (24 per 100 000 blood donations). In most cases the blood donor did not need medical treatment beyond the simple treatment given at the donation centre. Among the systemic complications, there were 97 reports on donor fainting (44 per 100 000 blood donations) and 16 reports on serious vasovagal reactions without fainting (7,3 per 100 000 blood donations). Five donors were injured because of the fainting.
As in previous reports, a high number of syncopal reactions occurred outside the donation site. A total of 16 other cases of non vasovagal systemic reactions were reported, among them seven citrate reactions, five cases of long-term weakness, one case of long-term headache after donation, one allergic reaction, one case of depressive reaction, and one case of stomach pain thought to be related to blood donation. We received six cases of nerve injury (2,8 per 100 000 blood donations). In three cases the blood donor still had symptoms one week after donation day. In one case the donor was referred to a specialist in neurology. None of the affected donors were permanently deferred as a consequence of the nerve complication. In addition, 19 reports of haematoma were reported, as well as thirteen cases of painful arm, two cases of arterial puncture, one thrombophlebitis, two local allergic reactions and two cases classified as “other local reactions”.
In 27 cases (24 local and three systemic complications) the duration of the symptoms was more than one week (12,4 per 100 000 complications). Long time morbidity was mainly caused by local complications such as haematomas, nerve injuries or arm pain. In five cases the blood donor needed a sick leave as a result of the complication: Two cases due to syncope (one of them with trauma), one case of painful haematoma, one case of painful arm and one case of long-lasting dizziness. In nine cases (4,1 per 100 000 blood donations) the donors needed a medical consultation from another doctor than the blood bank physician, as a result of the complication.
In most of the cases (113) the blood donor was treated at the donation site. In 13 cases the donor needed to stay for some hours in the hospital for medical observation, mainly because of a vasovagal reaction with or without fainting. In 58 cases the blood donor received medical or other support outside the hospital or the blood bank, mainly at home, at work or by the general practitioner on duty. In 38 cases the blood donor was permanently deferred as a consequence of the incident (17,4 per 100 000 blood donations). This report contains case reports that may be instructive. The report must be read in connection with the other 2012 reports.