Befo­re the stem cell dona­ti­on, a detail­ed infor­ma­ti­ve talk is always held with the donor and a
tho­rough medi­cal exami­na­ti­on car­ri­ed out. Stem cells may only be dona­ted once all the test
results pro­ve satis­fac­to­ry. The risks dif­fer depen­ding on the method:
In the case of a peri­phe­ral blood stem cell dona­ti­on, the donor is initi­al­ly trea­ted with a
growth fac­tor for seve­ral days to encou­ra­ge the stem cells to pass into the blood. Flu-like
sym­ptoms may deve­lop as a side effect of such tre­at­ment. The­se sym­ptoms can be treated
with pain­kil­lers and dis­ap­pear imme­dia­te­ly after the tre­at­ment. Sin­ce the intro­duc­tion of this
pro­ce­du­re in 1989, no long-term effects have been reported.
With a bone mar­row dona­ti­on, a long need­le is used to extra­ct bone mar­row from the pelvic
bone of the donor. Brui­sing can the­r­e­fo­re deve­lop around the punc­tu­re site and cause
dis­com­fort for a few days. As the bone mar­row is coll­ec­ted under gene­ral anes­the­sia, the risk
from the anes­the­sia is the same as with other ope­ra­ti­ons. The bone mar­row its­elf is quickly
repro­du­ced by the body.
In rare cases, the donor may expe­ri­ence all­er­gic reac­tions to eit­her of the­se collection
methods.