(P-BC-49) Pickle Juice and Blood Donations...A New Way to Alleviate Cramping?

Background: Donating blood is critical for saving and sustaining lives and is usually a rewarding experience for the donor. Although it can make a donor feel like a hero, there are times when severe cramping during automated collections can occur causing unfavorable outcomes, including lost products and sometimes even lost donors. The use of pickle juice to mitigate muscle cramps is well known in the sports world. JD Metzl, a sports medicine physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York advocates its use for his patients. He states, “It’s a good trick to have”.

Pickle juice is an inexpensive drink that is rich in electrolytes and acetic acid. Its sour taste triggers a muscular reflex when it hits the back of the throat. This reflex shuts down the misfiring of neurons and “turns off” the cramping feeling, giving the donor relief to continue the donation.

Study

Design/Methods:

Study Design: An 18-month pilot study was conducted using data from automated donations at our fixed site donation centers. Our routine practice when treating cramping experienced during automated collections is to adjust flow rate, administer oral calcium tablets, or offer 12 ounces of Gatorade. For this pilot, bottles containing 2.5 ounces of a pickle juice sports drink was provided to 8 of our fixed site donor centers. At these pilot sites, staff was instructed to offer pickle juice to donors who experienced cramping during the collection. Forms were created for documentation, including either pickle juice or Gatorade given, what product was being collected from the donor, and the response to the pickle juice or Gatorade. Data was collected from these 8 centers and compared with 8 centers which offered Gatorade.

Results/Findings:

Results: During the 18-month pilot, 34 donors received pickle juice and 5 donors received Gatorade for cramping experienced during apheresis collections.  Donors who experienced cramping stated they felt relief almost instantly when drinking 2.5 ounces of pickle juice while donors who received 12 ounces of Gatorade stated they felt relief after 3-5 minutes or not at all. Gatorade was then replaced with pickle juice at all fixed site centers. To date, we have not had any donor complaints of not receiving immediate resolution and no complaints about the taste or smell. Pickle juice has also been added as a treatment in our online reaction module which has made it easier for tracking and documentation.

Conclusions:

Conclusion: The data and continual donor positive feedback show that pickle juice can help alleviate cramping experienced during automated apheresis collections. Pickle juice is now stocked in small refrigerators and at room temperature in all of our fixed donation sites. At times, our repeat donors who are known to experience cramping ask for pickle juice at the beginning of the procedure which gives us confidence that this is an overwhelming success and donor satisfier.