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Apart from whole blood transfusion, there are some other types of blood donations. These are
together called as Automated Blood Collection (ABC) processes.
Apheresis
This is the process in which only platelets are separated from the donor while
the rest of the blood goes back to the donor. This process is long, lasting for
about 1.5 to 2 hours. Initially, the whole blood is drawn from the body and sent
for processing. After the platelets are separated, the plasma and rest of the
blood cells are transfused back in the donor's body. Blood donation side effects
for this process are few, as most of the fluid goes back into the body.
Alyx Blood Donation
It is also called as double red blood cell donation. Alyx blood donation side
effects are minimum. This type of donation allows the donor to donate 2 units of
blood volume at a go. However, the red blood cells are separated from the blood
and the rest of the fluid goes back to the donor. This is pretty similar to
apheresis, except this is a continuous process. Blood that is drawn from the
donor's body goes to an attached machine, which separates the red blood cells
and sends the fluid back. Double red blood cell donation side effects are
minimized due to fluid replacement as well as smaller size of the syringe. Also,
the continuous process makes it a smaller session, of about 25 minutes.
Plasmapheresis
This process is similar to the other two described above. The only difference is
that in this case, plasma is separated from blood as a donating component. The
rest of the blood components are transfused back in the body of the donor.
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