Adverse effects in blood donors after whole-blood donation: a study of 1000 blood donors interviewed 3 weeks after whole-blood donation.

BACKGROUND: There are no reports in the transfusion medicine literature that describe adverse reactions and donor arm injuries after whole-blood donation based on solicited information., STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The present study solicited adverse reaction and donor arm injury information from 1000 randomly selected whole-blood donors approximately 3 weeks after the whole-blood donation. Two 16-gauge phlebotomy needles in use were also compared., RESULTS: Thirty-six percent of the donors had one or more adverse effects (AEs). The most common systemic AEs were fatigue (7.8%), vasovagal symptoms (5.3%), and nausea and vomiting (1.1%). The most common arm findings were bruise (22.7%), arm soreness (10.0%), and hematoma (1.7%). Men were half as likely as women to have an AE (23% AE vs. 48% AE, p