Clinical applications of therapeutic phlebotomy

Abstract

Phlebotomy is the removal of blood from the body, and therapeutic phlebotomy is the preferred treatment for blood disorders in which the removal of red blood cells or serum iron is the most efficient method for managing the symptoms and complications. Therapeutic phlebotomy is currently indicated for the treatment of hemochromatosis, polycythemia vera, porphyria cutanea tarda, sickle cell disease, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease with hyperferritinemia. This review discusses therapeutic phlebotomy and the related disorders and also offers guidelines for establishing a therapeutic phlebotomy program.

Keywords:

• therapeutic phlebotomy
• hemochromatosis
• polycythemia vera
• porphyria cutanea tarda
• sickle cell disease
• nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Soonchunhyang University Research Fund. The authors thank Editage (www.editage.co.kr) for English language editing.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.