It is a special kind of donation that allows a donor to give specific blood components, such as platelets. During the apheresis procedure, all but the needed blood components are returned to the donor. Depending on their illness or injury, patients need different types of blood components. A cell separator called a centrifuge is used to separate the platelets from the remainder of the blood components.
Platelets are blood cells that help control bleeding.
When a blood vessel is damaged, platelets collect at the site of injury and temporarily repair the tear. They then activate substances in plasma which form a clot and allow the wound to heal. After you donate whole blood, the unit is separated into platelets, red cells and plasma in our laboratory. Six to ten whole blood donations must be separated and pooled to provide a single platelet transfusion. However, one apheresis donation provides enough platelets for a complete transfusion.