All you need to know about Bone Transplant Surgery

Posted by joshmeth on July 12th, 2017

Crucial infections or diseases such an Aplastic Anemia (where the marrow stops producing red blood cells) or more prominently cancers such as leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma can cause high levels of caution. These diseases can reduce the capacity of the marrow producing red blood cells and can be life threatening. If you are or know someone suffering from the said diseases, then it is advised that they get a bone marrow transplant. Bone marrow transplanting in India is now a common procedure with qualified hospitals and doctors. 

What is the role of Bone Marrow?

The bone marrow in our body is responsible to produce blood cells. These are red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.

What is bone marrow transplant?

When the body’s marrow stops producing red blood cells, the need to have a bone marrow transplant arises. This procedure involves replacing the unhealthy blood forming cells with healthy ones. There are two types of transplants. One is an autologous transplant and the other is allogeneic transplant. In the former, the patients cells’ are used, which are collected from their bloodstream and are used in the transplant. In the latter, the cells are procured from family members, unrelated donors and/or umbilical cord blood units.

Bone Marrow Transplanting in India

India has highly qualified personnel who are trained in BMT. India has performed over 700 successful bone marrow transplanting surgeries. This is an excellent success rate to have. Some of the best centres for treating your bone marrow is in Chennai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Kolkata.

What is the procedure?

There is no surgery involved in Bone marrow transplanting. This applies for the patient as well as the donor. The procedure involves pumping in stem cells into the body. These cells are usually found inside the bone and can flow from one bone to the other. The marrow rejuvenates itself in time, but this process is a lengthy one and therefore, the stem cells are externally injected. The process of infusing these stem cells is done through a live blood transfusion.

What are the steps involved in the procedure?

There are three steps involved in the procedure.

Step 1 – The collection of the stem cells. These cells can be collected via a donor. The donor can be a relative, unrelated, or from a blood unit. The procedure is very secure even for the donors.

Step 2 – The destruction of the existing bone marrow. This is required so that the body can accept the healthy steam cells

Step 3 – Infusing the stem cells through an intravenous route such as blood transfusion.  The results will show in a few weeks once the marrow has accepted the infused cells and starts producing the components of the blood once again.