{"title":"Use of finer needles for venipuncture increases <i>in vitro</i> haemolysis despite reducing persistent pain and nerve injury: A retrospective study.","authors":"Hiroshi Umemura, Hiromichi Takahashi, Yoshiaki Fukuda, Hitoshi Soma, Rumiko Aoki, Norihisa Takei, Tomohiro Nakayama","doi":"10.1177/00045632231196045","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Although venipuncture is minimally invasive, and is the most frequently performed medical procedure, it carries the small risk of causing persistent pain, including nerve damage. Recently, our hospital stopped using 22-gauge needles for venipuncture in outpatients and switched to using only 23- and 25-gauge needles. We investigated the impact of using only the finer needles on the incidence of persistent or neuropathic pain and the prevalence of haemolysis, as well as the impact of haemolysis associated with the needle change on other laboratory data.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We retrospectively collected and analysed data on venipuncture-associated pain complaints made during the 1-year period prior and 1-year period after the change in needles, as well as the frequency of haemolysis before and after the change. We also focused on 90 cases that showed significant haemolysis after the needle change and compared the serum aspartate aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, and potassium levels before and after the needle change.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The incidence of persistent pain was significantly reduced from 1 in 10,825 venipunctures before the change to 1 in 29,747 venipunctures after the change. Notably, no patients experienced neuropathic pain after the change. However, the prevalence of haemolysis was significantly increased. Additionally, the serum aspartate aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, and potassium levels were significantly elevated in the cases that showed moderate to gross haemolysis after the needle change.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Using finer needles involves both advantages and disadvantages, and careful consideration is needed to determine which type of needle is in the best interests of the patient.</p>","PeriodicalId":8005,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Clinical Biochemistry","volume":" ","pages":"107-114"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annals of Clinical Biochemistry","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00045632231196045","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2023/8/29 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"MEDICAL LABORATORY TECHNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Although venipuncture is minimally invasive, and is the most frequently performed medical procedure, it carries the small risk of causing persistent pain, including nerve damage. Recently, our hospital stopped using 22-gauge needles for venipuncture in outpatients and switched to using only 23- and 25-gauge needles. We investigated the impact of using only the finer needles on the incidence of persistent or neuropathic pain and the prevalence of haemolysis, as well as the impact of haemolysis associated with the needle change on other laboratory data.
Methods: We retrospectively collected and analysed data on venipuncture-associated pain complaints made during the 1-year period prior and 1-year period after the change in needles, as well as the frequency of haemolysis before and after the change. We also focused on 90 cases that showed significant haemolysis after the needle change and compared the serum aspartate aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, and potassium levels before and after the needle change.
Results: The incidence of persistent pain was significantly reduced from 1 in 10,825 venipunctures before the change to 1 in 29,747 venipunctures after the change. Notably, no patients experienced neuropathic pain after the change. However, the prevalence of haemolysis was significantly increased. Additionally, the serum aspartate aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, and potassium levels were significantly elevated in the cases that showed moderate to gross haemolysis after the needle change.
Conclusion: Using finer needles involves both advantages and disadvantages, and careful consideration is needed to determine which type of needle is in the best interests of the patient.
期刊介绍:
Annals of Clinical Biochemistry is the fully peer reviewed international journal of the Association for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine.
Annals of Clinical Biochemistry accepts papers that contribute to knowledge in all fields of laboratory medicine, especially those pertaining to the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of human disease. It publishes papers on clinical biochemistry, clinical audit, metabolic medicine, immunology, genetics, biotechnology, haematology, microbiology, computing and management where they have both biochemical and clinical relevance. Papers describing evaluation or implementation of commercial reagent kits or the performance of new analysers require substantial original information. Unless of exceptional interest and novelty, studies dealing with the redox status in various diseases are not generally considered within the journal''s scope. Studies documenting the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with particular phenotypes will not normally be considered, given the greater strength of genome wide association studies (GWAS). Research undertaken in non-human animals will not be considered for publication in the Annals.
Annals of Clinical Biochemistry is also the official journal of NVKC (de Nederlandse Vereniging voor Klinische Chemie) and JSCC (Japan Society of Clinical Chemistry).