BLOOD DONATION-RELATED NEUROLOGIC NEEDLE INJURY - EVALUATION OF 2 YEARS WORTH OF DATA FROM A LARGE BLOOD CENTER

Background: There is little information in the medical literature on t he clinical spectrum of blood donation-related neurologic needle injur y and on its frequency in a blood donor population. Study Design and M ethods: Sixty-six cases of blood donation-related neurologic needle in jury were identified from nursing reports made during a 2-year collect ion period involving 419,000 whole blood donations. Telephone follow-u p was completed on 56 of the 66 cases to better define clinical sympto ms, the donor's desire for physician consultation, recovery times, and residual effects. Results: Symptoms in 65 donors included numbness or tingling (n = 54), excessive or radiating pain (n = 43), and loss of arm or hand strength (n = 8). Of the 56 donors with complete follow-up , 17 (30%) consulted a physician one or more times. Recovery times in these 56 donors were <3 days (n = 22), 4 to 29 days (n = 17), 1 to 3 m onths (n = 13) 3 to 6 months (n = 2), and >6 months (n = 2). Fifty-two of 56 donors achieved a full recovery, and 4 other donors had only a mild, localized, residual numbness. The incidence of blood donation-re lated neurologic needle injury was 1 of every 6300 donations. Conclusi on: While donor recovery may in some cases require a great deal of tim e and/or physician consultation(s), total recovery appears to be the r ule. The incidence of blood donation-related neurologic needle injury is relatively low.