Here is a term paper on ‘Blood Donation’. Find paragraphs, long and short term papers on ‘Blood Donation’ especially written for college and paramedical students.
Term Paper on Blood Donation
Term Paper Contents:
- Term Paper on the Introduction to Blood Donation
- Term Paper on the Process of Blood Donation
- Term Paper of Blood Collection Procedure
- Term Paper on the Instructions to Donors after Blood Donation
- Term Paper on Blood Compatibility Testing
- Term Paper on Blood Preservation and Storage
- Term Paper on the Standard Tests Performed after Blood Donation
Term Paper # 1. Introduction to Blood Donation:
There is always a need for blood donors. Modern medical care, including surgery and medical treatment for many diseases, is not possible without the use of blood products. A shortage of blood products means that someone may not get prompt, adequate care.
Whole blood is collected from healthy donors who are required to meet strict criteria concerning:
i. Medical history
ii. Physical health
iii. Possible contact with transfusion-transmissible infectious diseases, including a history of:
a. Sexual behaviour
b. Drug use
c. Travel to areas of endemic disease (e.g., malaria)
A photo identification is required for all donors.
The Potential Donor Must:
a. Be in good health and feeling well on the day of donation.
b. Be on no prescribed medication that would cause the donor a problem when donating or that would affect the recipient
c. Have a hemoglobin (red blood cell) level which meets the established standard.
d. Wait 56 days before giving another donation of whole blood.
All donors are required to complete a health questionnaire and blood safety form during a confidential interview by a donor center health care worker each time they come in to donate blood. The purpose of this process is to determine whether a donation can be obtained safely.
Please note that AIDS and other infectious diseases cannot be transmitted to a blood donor. The equipment used to collect blood is sterile, used only once and then discarded. There is No risk of contracting AIDS or any other infectious disease by donating blood.
Most blood donors are volunteers. However, sometimes a patient may want to donate blood prior to undergoing surgery, so that his/her blood is available in case a transfusion becomes necessary. Patients donating for themselves are exempt from many of the following requirements.
To ensure the safety of the blood donation process and available blood supply, volunteer blood donors must meet specific criteria:
i. Age:
Donor must be seventeen years of age or older. There is no upper age limit.
(Some states permit persons younger than 17 years to donate blood with parental consent.)
ii. Weight:
Donor must weight 110 pounds (50 kg) or more.
iii. Health:
Donor must be in general good health. Some minor health problems, such as cold or flu, may temporarily disqualify donors. Other significant medical histories, i.e. major surgery, blood transfusion, etc. excludes potential donors for up to one year. Some diseases, such as malaria will exclude donors for up to three years.
More serious health issues, such as a history of heart disease, cancer, hepatitis, organ failure. HIV (exposure or high risk), intravenous drug abuse, etc. usually disqualify blood donation permanently. To establish that a potential donor can give blood safely, A general review of the medical history, blood pressure check, pulse rate check, temperature check and hemoglobin level check.
If you are taking any medications, especially prescription medications, you will be asked which ones and the reason(s) for which they are taken. Examination is given prior to donation.
iv. Travel History:
Travel and or a prolonged stay in some foreign countries can result in temporary or permanent disqualification. The issues involved may be a potential exposure to malaria, mad cow disease, etc.
It is recommended that prospective donors eat prior to giving blood. After donation normal daily activities may resume. We do recommend that donors avoid lifting heavy weights or performing strenuous exercise for several hours.
You may donate blood platelets and plasma 24 times a year up to 12 liters per year.
Term Paper # 2. Process of Blood Donation:
1. In the interview process a questionnaire is filled out. The questions are designed to identify potential health problems for the donor or potential infections that may be present in the donor that could be transmitted through transfusion to another person.
2. A finger-stick yields a drop of blood for testing to determine if the donor has a high enough hematocrit to safely donate blood.
3. The blood is drawn into a capillary tube which is then spun in the small centrifuge (seen in the background) to determine the hematocrit.
4. The donor sits in a reclining chair. An inflatable cuff on the arm is used to check blood pressure and to maintain venous filling.
5. The site for drawing blood is selected and disinfected. A prominent vein is chosen for the venipuncture site.
6. The disinfectant is applied to the area around the vein to be used.
7. The needle used to draw the blood from the vein is gently inserted.
8. Blood fills the collection bag by gravity in a few minutes. The sealed plastic collection bag contains a blood preservative.
9. Just after the bag has filled, blood from the line is taken to fill several vacutainer tubes for further testing.
10. The needle is removed and pressure is applied over the venipuncture site, then a bandage is placed for the next couple of hours.
11. The donor drinks some liquid (here a tube of apple juice) to replace the lost blood volume, eats some cookies, and is on his way in about 10 minutes.
Blood Components:
While blood, or one of its components, may be transferred, each component serves many functions:
i. Red Blood Cells:
Carry oxygen to the tissues in the body and are commonly used in the treatment of anemia.
ii. Platelets:
Help the blood to clot and are used in the treatment of leukemia and other forms of cancer.
iii. White Blood Cells:
Help to fight infection and aid in the immune process.
iv. Plasma:
The watery, liquid part of the blood in which the red blood cells, the white blood cells, and platelets are suspended. Plasma is needed to carry the many parts of the blood through the bloodstream.
Plasma serves many functions, including the following:
a. Helps to maintain blood pressure
b. Provides proteins for blood clotting
c. Balances the levels of sodium and potassium
v. Cryoprecipitate AHF:
A portion of the plasma that contains clotting factors that help to control bleeding. Albumin, immune globulins, and clotting factor concentrates may also be separated and processed for transfusions.
Term Paper # 3. Blood Collection Procedure:
The blood is usually drawn from the median cubital vein, from the inside of the elbow. An antiseptic such as iodine is used to clean the skin above this vein. This helps to prevent bacterial infection at the site of puncture and also helps to prevent the blood drawn from being infected.
A tourniquet may be used to elevate the blood pressure in the veins of the arm. This helps to ease and speed up the process. Sometimes the donor is given an object to squeeze repeatedly in order to increase blood flow to the targeted vein. Invariably a needle with a larger guage is used in order to minimise the shearing forces that can cause damage to the RBCs.
A mild sting may be experienced when the needle is inserted, but there should be no pain during the donation.
There are two main procedures that are used to draw blood from a donor.
The first and the most common method is when whole blood is drawn from the donor and is collected in a plastic bag that contains anticoagulants and preservatives such as sodium citrate, phosphate, dextrose or adenine.
The collected blood separated into its components (mainly the RBCs and the plasma) and stored. It must be noted that most recipients need only certain components and do not require whole blood. Plasma can be used for transfusions and also to make medications. This is a carryover from the World War II times when dried plasma was used to treat wounds.
On an average 450-500 ml of blood is drawn from one individual at a time. This amount of blood, along with the anti-coagulants present in the collection bag is referred to as ‘one unit’ of blood.
The second method called apheresis consists of drawing blood from the donor, separating the components using a centrifuge, storing the component required for transfusion and returning the remaining components to the donor. Usually the RBCs are transferred back to the donor while the plasma and platelets are put to good use. Apheresis may be carried out using specifically designed instruments.
Whole blood, when kept in CPDA anti-coagulant solution at 2 – 4 °C, can be stored up to 35 days, but the demand is far greater than the supply and the collected blood is used up much before its expiry date.
Term Paper # 4. Instructions to Donors after Blood Donation:
1. Do not lift heavy weight today from the arm from which blood has been collected.
2. Do not chew tobacco or smoke for 3 hours after donation.
3. Drink at least 10-12 glasses of water in 24 hours following blood donation.
4. Please ensure that you have taken enough food and fluids.
5. Remove the bandage after 24 hours of donation.
6. If there is a feeling of giddiness, dizziness or fainting, lie down with legs raised. If symptoms persist, contact nearest doctor.
7. Do not drive a vehicle for one hour after donation or drive carefully for untoward reactions.
8. If you feel uneasy after leaving blood bank, please contact doctor in the blood bank.
Term Paper # 5. Blood Compatibility Testing (Cross Match):
A “type” includes a “front type” and a “back type”. The “front type” determines which antigens (“flags”) in the ABO blood group system are on the patient’s red blood cells as follows:
The “back type” identifies the isohemagglutinin (naturally occurring antibody) in the patient’s serum and should correspond to the antigens found on the red blood cells as follows:
In addition, RBC’s are Rh typed and identified as “D” positive or negative.
A “screen” looks for unexpected red cell alloantibody which may form following pregnancy or prior transfusions. If the screen is positive, the antibody is identified and 2 units lacking the corresponding antigen are cross matched for the patient. The physician is also notified. Antibody identification can be complicated and take more than a day to complete.
A “type and cross” determines compatibility between patient serum and donor red blood cells.
1. A full cross match procedure takes about 45 minutes to complete and cannot be shortened.
2. Units are refrigerated until used.
3. A unit of blood must be properly labelled and the label MUST be checked before use.
Every unit cross-matched is removed from the general inventory and reserved for the patient for 72 hours. Units which are cross=matched unnecessarily will deplete Blood Bank inventories and can result in blood shortages, Blood shortages can result in cancellation of elective surgical procedures.
Blood will ordinarily not be released for transfusion until compatibility testing is completed.
However, under emergency conditions, blood products may be released without a cross-match if the patient is in danger of dying if transfusion is delayed. In such cases, if the patient’s blood type is not known, then group O Rh negative (O neg) blood can be released without compatibility testing.
In cases in which the patient’s blood type is reliably known, then type-specific blood or RBC’s of the same ABO and Rh group may be released.
Term Paper # 6. Blood Preservation and Storage:
Blood is collected as whole blood, as shown below:
Blood can be stored as whole blood (with all of the plasma present) or, much more commonly, as packed red blood cells (PRBC’S) in which about 70% of the plasma has been removed.
This is done by light centrifugation, as shown below:
The plasma with platelets can then be expressed off, leaving packed red blood cells (PRBC’s) as shown here:
Both whole blood and PRBC’s can be stored for up to 42 days at 1 – 6°C.
The plasma can be centrifuged heavily a second time to separate the platelet rich plasma, as shown below:
The supernatant plasma can be expressed into a third bag and stored as fresh frozen plasma (FFP).
The remaining platelet rich plasma is utilized as a platelet pack, as shown below:
As can be seen in the above diagram, a single donation of whole blood has supplied three separate components (packed red blood cells, platelets, fresh frozen plasma) that can potentially benefit three different patients.
After the expiration date, rare or valuable blood units can be “rejuvenated” with a biochemical solution that restores much of the original biochemical environment of the RBC’s.
The “rejuvenated” units are “washed” with isotonic saline in an automated device and then can be transfused as a saline-red blood cell suspension within 2 to 4 hours, or these units can be stored glycerolized and frozen for up to 10 years.
Cryopreservation of RBC’s is done to store special, rare RBC’s for up to 10 years. The RBC’s are first incubated in a 40% glycerol solution which acts as an “antifreeze” within the cells. The units are then placed in special sterile containers in a deep freezer at less than -60°C.
Cryopreserved units are thawed and washed free of glycerol prior to use as saline suspended RBC’s. These units must be used in 2 – 4 hours to prevent possible bacterial contamination. The washed units are depleted of plasma and leukocytes.
Cryopreserved blood can help to maintain stores of Rh negative blood, to provide units for persons with antibodies to high-incidence antigens or persons difficult to cross-match because of multiple alloantibodies and to provide plasma-free blood to persons with IgA deficiency.
Thus, the types of RBC products available are:
i. Whole blood.
ii. Packed red blood cells (PRBC’s)
iii. Leukocyte depleted RBC’s: Cryopreserved blood that is thawed and deglycerolized is depleted of leukocytes, but much better depletion can be obtained by filtering the blood through leukocyte-specific filters.
iv. Frozen, deglycerolized RBC’s.
Term Paper # 7. Standard Tests Performed after Blood Donation:
A set of standard tests are performed in the laboratory once blood is donated, including, but not limited to the following:
i. Typing- ABO group (blood type)
ii. Rh typing (positive or negative antigen)
iii. Screening for any unexpected red blood cell antibodies that may cause problems in the recipient
iv. Screening for current or past infections including the following:
a. Hepatitis viruses B and C
b. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
c. Human T-lymphotrophic viruses (HTLV)
d. I and II
e. Syphilis
v. Irradiation to blood cells is performed to disable any T-lymphocytes present in the donated blood. (T-lymphocytes can cause a reaction when transfused, but can also cause what is called ‘graft-versus-host’ problems with repeated exposure to foreign cells.)
vi. ‘Leukocyte reduced blood’ has been filtered to remove the white blood cells which contain antibodies that can cause fevers in the recipient of the transfusion. (These antibodies, with repeated transfusions, may also increase a recipient’s risk of reactions to subsequent transfusions.)