What is Secondary Polycythemia?

7. Venesection for Secondary Polycythemia

One treatment option for secondary polycythemia is venesection. It is the quickest and simplest way to decrease the number of red blood cells in the body. A doctor may recommend this treatment method if the patient is experiencing symptoms that suggest the blood is too thick, or has a history of blood clots. In venesection, a technician removes a pint of blood. Frequency depends on the patient, who may initially require weekly treatments, but with improvement may only need them ever few months or even every two or three years.