Achievements of modern medicine and the creation of new models of technology made it possible to appear in such a new direction as blood surgery. It includes ultrafiltration, hemosorption, plasmapheresis, reviews of which allow us to say that there is a future for such treatment methods. Using these treatment programs can reduce the drug load on the patient’s body and, accordingly, optimize the treatment program for diseases of the musculoskeletal system, kidneys, liver, digestive tract, heart and blood vessels, respiratory system.
What is a procedure like?
Each person who had to carry out plasmapheresis leaves the most diverse reviews - from the delight of the effect of the treatment to the deep rejection of the procedure as such. The principle of the therapy itself is that a certain amount of blood is removed from the patient’s circulatory system (venous bed), which is then placed in a special apparatus. It carries out fractionation of blood into the liquid part - plasma, which can be used for the production of certain blood products, and uniform elements returned to the systemic circulation after centrifugation.
The missing volume of liquid is recovered using crystalline (physiological sodium chloride solution, Disol, Trisol solution ) or colloidal solutions, which are selected individually by the transfusiologist for each patient. That is why, answering the question - what is plasmapheresis, experts say that this is a new method of gravitational blood surgery, the use of which allows you to mechanically remove toxic elements and some metabolic products from the patient’s body.
When is the procedure really needed?
By conducting plasmapheresis, reviews of which differ even in different patients with similar diagnoses, doctors hope to clear the blood of pathological impurities or excessive concentrations of the body’s vital products. When deciding whether or not such a technique of gravitational blood surgery is shown in each case, the specialist of the blood transfusion department for each patient determines the necessary number of procedures, the frequency of their repetition and the volume of venous blood that can be removed from the patient’s bloodstream without developing serious consequences.
Naturally, plasmapheresis, indications for which can occur in the practice of a physician, surgeon, and dermatologist, and even an obstetrician-gynecologist, is always performed in a hospital. In some cases, the patient should be hospitalized for treatment (with problems with blood coagulation, general serious condition, problems with venous access) or undergo an outpatient procedure, remaining in the clinic only during the process of plasmapheresis and several hours after the completion of the next session.
It is very rare that the patient performs plasmapheresis, reviews of which patients most often receive in modern conditions from advertising on various Internet sites or recommendations of friends, the doctor is faced with the question - what is the optimal duration of the course. There is no definite answer and it cannot be: in some cases, plasmapheresis procedures should be performed every 3-4 days, but with a very short course of 3-4 sessions, for example, in severe acute allergic reactions. Sometimes the doctor recommends a single procedure with a frequency of 1 time every 15-20 days - this is how the antiphospholipid syndrome and habitual miscarriage are treated, but the sessions continue all the time the child is waiting under the control of laboratory parameters and the supervision of specialists.