Bone marrow transplant
The goal of the operation:
The purpose of a bone marrow transplant is to replace the affected bone marrow tissue in the body. These tissues are usually infected and damaged by cancer (for example, leukemia or what is known as leukemia) or due to other diseases affecting the bone marrow cells.
The bone marrow is made up of cells. These cells are responsible for the process of classifying blood cells into different types (known as stem cells). The bone marrow is a tissue that contains fat cells in addition to a specific liquid, and it is found in the inner section of the majority of the body's bones.
In most cases, the bone marrow is transplanted to treat final blood cell production and classification problems, a definitive treatment - leukemia of various types (such as: ALL, AML), aplastic anemia (decreased platelet count) caused by Thrombocytopenia. About many diseases that affect platelets, various genetic diseases such as Thalassemia, Multiple myeloma and others.
The bone marrow transplant allows the body to rebuild its own blood cell repository, produce healthy blood cells, and balance cell levels in the blood. In many cases, the bone marrow transplant is the only possibility to fully treat these diseases. This process is carried out by transferring the stem cells from the patient himself (self-bone marrow transplantation from healthy cells that have been preserved), or from a suitable donor according to tissue matching.
Prepare for the process:
As mentioned above, the bone marrow transplant requires a suitable donor in terms of tissue matching. Tissue match is checked with a simple blood test. The examined persons are usually from the patient's relatives, or donors registered in the national / global bone marrow donor registry.
There are additional tests that must be done before the transplant, and they include: taking a sample of the patient's bone marrow, blood tests such as a comprehensive blood count, a blood chemistry test, and coagulation tests. In addition to liver and kidney performance tests, urine tests, and tests to ensure there are no infections in the body - these include: blood and urine implants.
In order to purify the body from the affected stem cells, a preparatory treatment must be performed before implantation. It is a treatment that takes ten days, during which the patient is given a strong preparatory chemotherapy by intravenous injection, in addition to radiotherapy if necessary. The patient is also provided with fluids. These treatments are relatively difficult, and the patient must reach the date of the operation and is in a healthy position to do so.
process:
If the bone marrow transplant is not from the patient itself, but rather from a donor, the stem cells are taken from the donor before the transplant. The cells are taken from the bone cavity directly, by a special needle (similar to a needle used to examine the bone marrow), or by giving a preparatory injection and taking the cells from the blood.
The bone marrow transplant is performed by inserting new stem cells into the patient's body through an intravenous catheter. And that is after a day or two after the end of the preparatory chemotherapy.
It takes a quarter of an hour to transfer cells to the patient's blood through a venous catheter, and no local or total anesthesia is required.
Operation risks:
Infection of the venous catheter insertion site - often this is superficial and treated topically. However, in rare cases, it may lead to more severe infection of the skin layers or blood vessels (phlebitis).
Bleeding - Bleeding occurs mainly in the area of intravenous catheterization as a result of local damage to tissues. It is often a small bleeding under the skin, which quickly fades within a few days.
Rejection of the transplanted bone marrow (attacking the bone marrow of the host body) - here the transplanted cells perform an acute immune response against the cells of the body. But today, the patient can be given many medications to prevent this phenomenon.
Postoperative treatment:
After the bone marrow transplantation, the patient will stay in hospital under observation, until he has recovered and has strengthened his immune system.
In the first days after the operation, the patient often feels very tired, anorexia, nausea, and even the need to vomit, in addition to some of the symptoms caused by the pre-operative chemotherapy, which causes a large number of side effects.
The patient is given medications to reduce the activity of his immune system, immediately after the transplant, in order to reduce the chances of rejection of the transplanted marrow. These medications are given to the patient for a long time - in some cases for life - and careful monitoring of the patient's blood tests is required due to the various side effects that these medications may cause.
The patient can take pain relievers as needed. Sometimes the patient can be given painkillers intravenously. In the following cases, the patient should go to the doctor directly: sudden temperature rise, hypotension, persistent pain despite the use of analgesics, shortness of breath, diarrhea, itching, rash, or bleeding.
Bone marrow transplant
