Man develops clot in his lung after donating blood, recovers

The potentially life-threatening reaction was discussed at a city medical conference.

A 30-year old man suffered a rare, potentially life threatening reaction when he developed a clot in his lung after donating blood at JJ Hospital blood bank.

The donor (name withheld), a resident of Bhiwandi, was checked for all the parameters including body weight and blood pressure before being allowed to donate blood in October. However, after the donation, he experienced severe pain in his chest. The doctors present provided prompt medical care to the patient. “Resuscitation did not help the man recover. We decided to take him to JJ Hospital for treatment, where he was admitted for a week. He recovered completely,” said Dr Hitesh Pagare, deputy medical director, JJ blood bank.

Pagare presented the case study in the International Conclave on Total Quality Management and Recent Trends in Transfusion Medicine last month at Kokilaben Dhirubai Ambani Hospital last month.

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“About 1 % of donors are known to suffer mild reactions after blood donations, but such adverse reactions are unusual,” said Pagare.

A mild reaction to blood donation could include fainting, giddiness or vomiting. Moderate reactions include include a patient losing consciousness or injuries caused in case the patient panics.caused . A severe reaction would include convulsions and more drastically a cardiac or pulmonary arrest. An adverse reaction could occur if the needle used to draw blood is fiddled with. This could lead to the formation of a clotcausing a cardiac arrest or a clot in lungs.

“Many blood banks do not document these cases as they feel that their blood bank’s reputation will be tarnished. Documentation is important as it will act as evidence that could help them handle such cases efficiently,” said Dr Girish Choudhary, assistant director, State Blood Transfusion Council.

Other doctors who operate blood banks said that these rare cases should not be highlighted as they deter people from donating blood.