Blood cannot be produced artificially, so it is very crucial that voluntary donors are safe and feel comfortable when donating blood. Blood donation procedure is normally very safe and tolerable for blood donors, however, occasionally blood donors experience various types of adverse reaction during or at the end of the blood donation (Assarian et al., 2011). Blood organizations usually recruit donors all the time. Adverse reactions can affect the recruitment and retentions of blood donors negatively (Eder, Notari IV, & Dodd, 2012). Donor satisfaction is very important to retain donors and due to adverse reactions, donors may not want to revisit (Custer et al., 2012). The Appendix displays the summary of various adverse events or symptoms experienced by blood donors for blood donation (Working Group, 2014).
This study considers some of the major reactions experienced by the blood donors frequently are briefly explained below:
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Allergic: Local allergy is the red or irritated skin at the venipuncture site that may cause itching and redness, whereas, generalized allergic reaction (anaphylactic reaction) usually starts soon after the procedure is begun and may progress rapidly to cardiac arrest, and may cause apprehension, anxiousness, flushing, swelling of eyes, lips or tongue, cyanosis, cough, wheezing, dyspnea, chest tightness, cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, tachycardia, hypotension, and altered mentation (Working Group, 2014).
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Arterial Puncture: Arterial puncture is a puncture of the brachial artery or of one of its branches by the needle used for bleeding the donor, collected blood can appear as lighter red color than usual, the needle and tubing may appear to pulsate, the blood bag fills quickly, and blood donor may experience weak pain in the elbow region (Working Group, 2014).
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Flushing: This is the facial flushing during blood donation.
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Hematoma: A hematoma reaction is the accumulation of blood in the tissues outside the vessels usually caused by blood flowing out of damaged vessels and accumulating in the soft tissues, which have major symptoms like bruising, discoloration, swelling and local pain (Working Group, 2014).
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Nerve Trauma: This is the injury or irritation of a nerve, may cause pain, tingling, burning sensations in hand, wrist, or shoulder area (Working Group, 2014).
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Phlebitis: This is the redness, swelling, and tenderness extend along the course of the vein (Working Group, 2014).
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Return Line Infiltration: This happens when intravenous solute (saline solution) enters the extravascular tissues during volume replacement (generally only applicable to double red cell procedures) and may cause swelling of the tissues at the venipuncture site (Working Group, 2014).
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Tetany: This can happen when overly stimulated nerves cause involuntary muscle cramps and contractions, and may cause vomiting, convulsions, serious pain, seizures, and heart dysfunction (Schaefer, 2017).
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Transported: This is the case when a blood donor is transported to a hospital or doctor’s office for medical attention when the donor experience certain condition during or after the blood donation that requires medical attention. The number of cases found throughout this study was very minimal.
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Vasovagal Reaction: Vasovagal reaction is a general feeling of discomfort and weakness with anxiety, dizziness and nausea, which may progress to loss of consciousness, and considered as the most common acute complication related to blood donation that may create symptoms like discomfort, weakness, anxiety, light-headedness/dizziness, nausea, chills, sweating, vomiting, pallor, hyperventilation, rapid or a slow pulse (Working Group, 2014).
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Other: This includes all other types of reactions that are not very common and do not fall under the defined reaction classes or categories but have some effect.
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No Apparent Reaction: There are certain situations when blood donors experience some issues during or at the end of blood donation but the issues do not fall under any defined reactions class or category and do not have any effect on the health issue for the donors. These reactions were marked as “no apparent reaction” for this study and it appears that the number of reactions was not significant.