Dr. Rahul Bhargava
New Delhi, January 20-A bone transplant transplant is a medical procedure to replace bone marrow in diseases such as aplastic anemia, leukimea, lyphoma and myeloma.
Pretransplant Screening
The donor and patients undergo a series of tests.
The patient requires certain tests before a bone marrow transplant operation,These include blood tests, a chest X-ray, PET scan, heart tests, and a bone marrow biopsy. Donors are also expected to complete certain tests.
Most likely, you will receive a written form that explains how to prepare, in case if special instructions are required before any of these tests. After the tests are completed, your doctor will review the results with you. These results are also required by your insurance company in order to approve the medical necessity of your transplant.
Conditioning Precedures
Administration of chemotherapy before transplant is called conditioning.
When only five to 10 days are left for the transplant, a conditioning regimen is administered. A conditioning regimen may include chemotherapy, monoclonal antibody therapy, and radiation to the entire body. It helps make room in the patient’s bone marrow for new blood stem cells to grow, helps prevent the patient’s body from rejecting the transplanted cells, and helps kill any cancer cells that are in the body.
Post Transplant Isolation
Patient is kept on medicines and immunosupressing in an isolated room for 25 days
As soon as the patient receives bone marrow transplant, one is out under you’ll under stringent medical care.
When the new stem cells enter your body, they travel through your blood to your bone marrow. In time, they multiply and begin to make new, healthy blood cells. This is called engraftment.
For blood cells in your body to return to normal, it might take weeks and depends on patient to patient. In the days and weeks after your bone marrow transplant, you’ll have blood tests and other tests to monitor your condition. You may need medicine to manage complications, such as nausea and diarrhea.
This should be noted some people may take longer time to recuperate. If you’re experiencing infections or other complications, you may need to stay in the hospital for several days or sometimes longer. Depending on the type of transplant and the risk of complications, you’ll need to remain near the hospital for several weeks to months to allow close monitoring
((The writer is Director-Head, Department of Haematology, Haemato-Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant, Institute of Blood Disorder, Fortis, Gurgaon)