The bone marrow transplantation is also known as the stem cell transplantation. This is a very effective treatment is some cases of cancer. But bone transplant is not an easy procedure. It may cause some side effects too once it is done. What side effect will happen depends on the disease type and the health condition of the patient.
The bone marrow transplant doctors India try to do the procedure as safely as possible so that they can have the minimum side effects. But it is also completely not in their hands. That is why; before the operation takes place, the doctor has a team of health care professionals who study the case of the patient and then discuss what can be the effects of the operation. If they come out with some side effects that may happen, they also let the patient know about it. Some side effects can be short term while others can be long term which can take almost a year to get cured.
The health care team also tries to minimise the effect of side effects as much as possible. They will also help the patient to cope up with them. This is also known as the palliative care. This is a very important part of the treatment plan.
If there is an auto transplant then just before the procedure happens, the patient has to go through some high dose chemotherapy or sometimes they may have to combination therapy with radiation therapy as well. The most common side effect that is noticed in case of auto transplants is the risk of infection from the low levels of white blood cells.
When a patient faces chemotherapy it can weaken their infection fighting system of their body. Their immunity system gets weaker than the normal human beings. So the body fails to fight back the regular virus and bacteria attacks on the body. That is why; the body remains open to higher infection attacks. Most patients receive the anti bacterial and anti viral drugs for a year after the transplantation take place. One also needs some vaccinations to fight back common infections.
According to doctors, most of the infection attacks occur right after the transplantation is done. This happens because there are already some germs present in the body. When the immunity system is strong, this does not affect much but when it becomes weak, the germs start attacking the body. But these infections can also be treated with the help of antibiotics. Post 2 weeks of transplantation, the white blood cells start forming in the body again and so they start fighting against the bacterial attacks.
The other immediate side effects that can be seen post transplantation are mouth sores, nausea and vomiting, fatigue, lowering of red blood cells which can lead to anaemia, lowering of platelet count in the body, diarrhoea and fever.
Famous doctors for bone marrow transplant in India also report some long term side effects like early menopause and infertility in women patients.