Potential Side Effects Of Stem Cell Transplant
Stem cell transplant can cause several side effects and complications. Some of these complications can be life threatening. To help minimize your risk of serious complications, it is important that you stay in close contact with your doctors and transplant team, ensuring you tell them immediately you notice any problem.
Some potential side effects that may occur include:
- Nausea and vomiting: Chemotherapy drugs tend to cause nausea or vomiting which could last for up to 10 days after yourlast treatment. You may need to take anti-nausea drugs. [4]
- Sores in the mouth: This usually happens due to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. They tend to go away after a couple of weeks.
- Infection: There is a high risk of infection during the first 6 weeks after the procedure due to low white blood cell levels. These infections can sometimes lead to more severe complications.
- Lung infection: An infection of your lung tissue may occur during the first 100 days after your transplant. Chemotherapy, graft-versus-host disease, [5] and radiation therapy can also lead to lung inflammation.
- Graft failure: This occurs when your body rejects the new stem cells. It mostly happens when the donor is not a good match.