Current applications of therapeutic phlebotomy

Phlebotomy, known also as bloodletting or venesection, is a major therapeutic procedure that has been performed by physicians in various civilisations since antiquity up to the present1,2. In the past it was practised using cupping, lancets or by the application of leeches2. This procedure often weakened the patient and resulted in his or her death. A famous example is that of President George Washington who died in 1799 following the removal of approximately 1.7 litres of blood during a bloodletting procedure for acute epiglottitis3. Originally, several thousand years ago, phlebotomy was used for the treatment of various disorders, but in addition to its therapeutic benefits, phlebotomy also had a preventive role. In present day medicine, phlebotomy can be performed in physicians’ offices, at a blood bank or in hospital under the supervision of a doctor after obtaining a medical prescription stating the indication and number of phlebotomy sessions required. Currently, therapeutic phlebotomy is approved for three main indications: haemochromatosis, polycythaemia vera and porphyria cutanea tarda. It has also been used as a treatment alternative for many other diseases in various countries, especially in Chinese medicine, although these indications are not approved by western medicine. We searched PubMed and Medline using the terms “phlebotomy”, “bloodletting” and “venesection”, limiting our search to all article types that included the indications for therapeutic phlebotomy. We came across only one review published in a nursing journal that mentioned the three main indications of therapeutic phlebotomy4. This review focuses not only on the three main indications but also discusses some of the other possible indications.