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 injury and on its frequency in a blood donor population. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Sixty-six cases of blood donation-related neurologic needle injury were identified from nursing reports made during a 2-year collection period involving 419,000 whole blood donations. Telephone follow-up was completed on 56 of the 66 cases to better define clinical symptoms, the donor's desire for physician consultation, recovery times, and residual effects. RESULTS: Symptoms in 66 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 months (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-related neurologic needle injury was 1 of every 6300 donations. CONCLUSION: While donor recovery may in some cases require a great deal of time and/or physician consultation(s), total recovery appears to be the rule. The incidence of blood donation-related neurologic needle injury is relatively low.