Venesection – Dr Andrew Thant

Therapeutic vensection, sometimes known as bloodletting, is indicated for medical conditions such as Haemochromatosis, Polycythaemia and Porpyhria Cutania Tarda. Bloodletting is the act of drawing blood from your body. It has a longstanding history in medicine, though in modern times it is generally restricted to the aforementioned medical conditions.

For doctors:
Dr Andrew Thant offers a convenient venesection service for your patient at Chevron Advanced Medical. The patient will be returned to your care for follow up blood tests and left at your discretion regarding the frequency of venesections (usually 3 monthly once stable). You will receive correspondence back from Dr Andrew Thant following the venesection.

It would be of great help if you could provide your patient with: (1) recent blood tests with Hb and Ferritin levels; (2) a genotype for Haemochromatosis if known (eg. C282Y homozygote or C282Y/H63D compound heterozygote).

For patients eligible with the Red Cross, we are also happy to refer them on to the Red Cross service if they wish.

For patients / self referral:
Patients are welcome to self-refer for a venesection. There must be a valid medical reason for requiring a venesection, so please bring a recent blood test to your appointment. Following the venesection, you may be requested to perform more tests to ascertain the cause of your iron overload.

Fees and booking:
Please choose one of the options below to book online, or call us on 07 5538 8811.

Book online- Venesection (gap fee) – The fee for a consult and venesection with Dr Andrew Thant is $110, and your Medicare rebate is $77, resulting in a gap fee of $33.

If you have haemochromatosis that is recognized by Medicare (C282Y homozygote or C282Y-H63D compound heterozygote), you can book subsequent venesections with our nurse – please call us on 07 5538 8811 to make a booking. Dr Andrew will check in on you during the venesection and arrange blood tests if required. This service is bulk billed. Please note, there are other conditions and haemochromatosis genotypes requiring venesection that Medicare does not recognize. For these patients, the usual fee of $110 applies.

Haemochromatosis:
This is a genetic disorder whereby too much iron is absorbed into the bloodstream from your diet. This results in excess iron – much more than what your body needs. There is no effective method for your body to excrete this excess iron (except in women where iron is lost during menstruation). Over time, iron deposits build up in your liver, joints, heart and other organs. The effects are more prominent in men and postmenopausal women. In severe cases, Haemochromatosis can lead to liver cirrhosis, arthritis, congestive heart failure and death.

By removing blood via venesection, the level of iron in the body is reduced. Treatment is continued until the ferritin reaches a normal level. The frequency of venesection treatments differs from one person to another. At first you may require weekly venesections. When your blood levels are under control you may only need a venesection every six to twelve weeks, or longer. Maintaining a normal ferritin level helps stop damage to your organs from excess iron.

Terafly

Venesection – Dr Andrew Thant

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