Bone Marrow Transplant: What it is, Uses, Risks, and Recovery

Bone marrow is a sponge-type soft tissue present in some bones, including thighs and hips. An individual needs a bone marrow transplant when the bone marrow stops working and is unable to produce healthy blood cells. This usually happens to people suffering from disorders like leukemia or lymphoma. The transplant is an intensive process, and its recovery takes sufficient time. This post will talk about bone marrow transplants, their uses, risks, and recovery.

So, let’s dive into the post.

What is Bone Marrow Transplant?

Bone marrow has stem cells in it. These stem cells help in creating:

White Blood Cells to fight infection
Red Blood Cells that supply oxygen to the entire body
Platelets that produce clots to avoid too much bleeding.

In case of medical conditions like damage to the immune system, it helps the body create healthy blood cells. Therefore, an individual may need a bone marrow transplant. The right candidate for a bone marrow transplant include:

People with blood cancers like leukemia or lymphoma
Genetic or immune disorders like thalassemia or sickle cell disease
Aplastic Anemia (bone marrow disease)
Damage of bone marrow due to cancer’s radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

Different Types of Bone Marrow Transplant

Bone marrow transplants are of three types. These are:

Allogenic Transplant

In this transplant, the donor can be a parent or sibling. If the donated stem cells have the same genetic build-up as the person’s own stem cells, the transplant is more likely to be successful.

Autologous Transplant

However, if a family member cannot donate it for some reason, the doctor looks for the donor’s registry to discover the closest match. This is an autologous transplant. The procedure involves replacing damaged cells with healthy blood stem cells from a healthy person.

Umbilical Cord Transplant

Also known as a cord transplant, this procedure involves using immature stem cells from the baby’s umbilical cord. Moreover, an umbilical cord does not require a close genetic match like an adult transplant in this type of transplant.

Bone Marrow Transplant Procedure

A bone marrow transplant is not surgery, but the process is the same as blood transfusion. If the transplant needs a donor, they provide stem cells in advance. However, if it involves the person’s own cells, the healthcare facility keeps them in storage. The transplant goes through various stages for many days. The healthcare team also uses the tube to infuse fluids such as nutrients, medications, and blood to encourage bone marrow growth and help fight infections.

Risks

A bone marrow transplant is a complex procedure with some high risk of complications. However, these complication depends on various factors such as:

Age
Overall health
Type of transplant
Reason for the transplant

Some common complications associated with bone marrow transplant are:

Infections
Vomiting, nausea or both
Mucositis is soreness and inflammation in the stomach, throat, and mouth.
Anemia
Organ damage
Infertility
Cataracts
Graft failure
Graft versus host disease
Lungs, bain, or other organs are bleeding.

Even some recipients may also experience certain reactions such as

Chills
Fever
Shortness of breath
Blood pressure drop
Headaches
Pain

Recovery

After the transplant, the doctor checks the blood every day during your hospital stay. This is to see how the transplant is working. Moreover, they will test if new cells have started to grow in the bone marrow. If the white blood cell counts increase, it shows the body has begun creating its own blood. Moreover, it indicates that the transplant has been successful. However, the time takes for the body to recover depends on factors such as

Type of transplant
Recovery of the immune system
Body acceptance on new healthy cells

Summary

A bone marrow transplant is a complex procedure. Moreover, it requires a lot of preparation, such as choosing the best hospital, surgeon, type of transplant, finding a donor, and length of hospital stay and package. All aspects contribute to a successful bone marrow transplant.

When looking for the best hospital, surgeon, and packages for bone marrow transplantation, Lyfboat can help! The online platform listed the top hospitals, surgeons, and package details that help you find the best bone marrow transplant cost in India. So, book a live consultation today for more details about the hospital, surgeon, and package! To read more about our health blogs, please visit our website.