Safety of RBC apheresis and whole blood donation in allogeneic and autologous blood donors

The collection of whole blood by manual means has been performed for nearly a century and as result the safety of this procedure is assumed. Conversely, the safety of automated collection in general and particularly RBC has had to “prove” itself, primarily because it is much more recent and is a different paradigm. Millions of procedures have been performed using both approaches. The blood donor, the “raw material” which makes hemotherapy possible, is the essential enabler in these processes. This article examines the complications of both manual and automated RBC collection.