Veins & Needles

[sraun]

In the last two months I have had, by my recent accounting, 6 blood draws and 1 IV.

I am convinced that the techs at Fairview Riverside Hospital are doing something wrong!

• The first two blood draws were at my clinic - the needle hurt a little going in, no sensation while the blood came out, no bruises.


• The third blood draw was a Fairview Riverside - the needle hurt a little going in, it continued to hurt as long as it was in (to the point where I almost fainted), and there was a significant bruise.


• The fourth blood draw was at my clinic - went the same as the first two.


• The fifth blood draw was at my specialist's clinic, at the same time as the bone marrow biopsy. It went just like the three at my clinic.


• The sixth blood draw was at Fairview Riverside - the needle hurt a little going in, it continued to hurt (but not as badly) as long as it was in, and there was a bruise. (This was the one that made me really dislike the tech - I asked that she draw from my left arm, she said she'd check both and use the better one, then checked my right arm and used it without looking at my left arm.)


• Then there was the IV - it was at Fairview Riverside, and was just like the sixth blood draw.

So - what are the techs at the hospital doing that is different from the techs at the clinics? It almost feels like they're sticking the point of the needle just barely into the far side of the vein - could that be it?

Comments

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

I just ran this by the wife (who is a nurse) and she said this sounds like poor technique on the part of the techs at the hospital. She said that if you don't insert the needle at the right angle, it will scrape the little valves inside the vein that keep the blood from flowing backwards and the resulting tissue trauma would cause pain and bruising. She suggested talking to your doctor about it to see if maybe he can do something about it, either by talking to someone at the hospital lab or by writing orders restricting who can draw your blood. Sorry you're having problems with this - hope this helped.

[hornedhopper.livejournal.com]

I don't have the *technical* knowledge that I hope you will get from others, but being a "very-bad-vein" person, myself, I can offer a couple of suggestions. For the hospital draws, you might want to mention that you are a *difficult* draw and ask for the "best vampire." Often, that's enough to get the expert phlebotomist on call to come, rather than taking potluck. Alec's hospital actually has an IV team for the difficult draws that the regular nursing staff pass him off to (they don't have to anymore, since he has a central venous line in now). Good luck with this, Scott! It's no fun to have someone guddling around in your veins...

[nara-cat.livejournal.com]

It sounds like you've just had bad luck with techs a few times... I'd give useful advice if I could, but I'm not a great vampire (vampire in training, really) myself. Just emphasize that you're (1) a bad stick, and (2) that you're a heme patient and likely to be getting lots of blood draws for the next (short, hopefully) while, and that you really need to keep your veins as intact as possible. Smile when you say it, and they'll probably try to accomodate you.

[celticmoni.livejournal.com]

I asked that she draw from my left arm, she said she'd check both and use the better one, then checked my right arm and used it without looking at my left arm.)

You don't know me from you anticubital space (which is the inside of your elbow),but as a phlebot, I always tried to go with the patient's vote. (unless there was truly nothing visible there...)There are as many techniques as there are medical professionals. Best thing about my job was a patient saying, "are you done? I didn't even FEEL that!"

[technomom]

I'm a "difficult draw" myself. I've found that 1) I need to be heavily hydrated; and 2) I can and will refuse to allow anyone who hurts me near me. In one hospital, they had an anesthesiologist stick me. Tell them that your experiences at the hospital have been bad, and you want that to stop. In fact, I'd suggest writing a letter with the same information you've given here to the appropriate supervisory staff and the hospital, with a copy to your doctor.

[lsanderson.livejournal.com]

Not-a-Doc Sanderson recommends increasing vitamin C if you're bruising much. Won't help the draw, but it does reduce the color and duration of the bruise.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

Continuing pain (after the initial stick) and bruising certainly aren't inevitable consequences of having a vein stuck. My experience is entirely with blood donations, but I don't think that's so different from having a vial of blood drawn for a test as to make it not relevant.

I have very occasionally had a minor bruise, never had pain that continued the whole time. Um, but on consideration "the whole time" for a blood donation is probably a lot longer than for drawing a vial. And I have sometimes had some stinging pain that continued for a while into the donation. I associate this with higher levels of antiseptic on my skin when the needle went in. But this doesn't sound like the degree or type of pain that you describe.