Question

1. Describe the consequences of using a needle with a large gauge number.

2. Explain the advantages of using a butterfly needle or winged infusion set in blood collection.

3. What are the possible problems that a phlebotomist may encounter when using a butterfly needle for blood collection?

Answer 1

Describe the consequences of using a needle with a large gauge number.

A gauge numbers is the unit of thickness of a metal and in this case the thickness of the needle to be used for injection or infusion purposes. Gauge number is a retrogressive scale where the higher number implies the lower thickness and it means that a 18 gauge needle is thinner than 16 gauge. The gauge of the needle is important to pre asses when the vein of the patient is fragile, narrow or relatively superficial. If a needle with a large gauge is used there is a chance of blood cells being haemolyzed and blood collection will be a slower process due to the narrow opening with a large gauge number

Explain the advantages of using a butterfly needle or winged infusion set in blood collection.

The following are the advantages of using a butterfly needle or winged infusion set in blood collection:

1. Butterfly needle is less intrusive and less painful when it comes to blood collection due to its smaller gauge size as compared to standard 23 gauge. It is most helpful for children and elderly

2. The smaller sized butterfly needle has easy and shallow design angle whch makes it easier to access the superficial veins nera skin surface

3. The butterfly infusion kit is less likely to undergo a collapse from the vein of the patient as due to smaller gauge size it helps to provide the vacuum strength to the evacuation system

4. The butterfly needle provide advantage on blood withdrawal of a combative patient or patients who fear the needle and also help with blood sample withdrawal by heel stick method in infants

5. The needle is very less likely to cause a profuse bleeding from the vein and the puncture would risks are minimal.

What are the possible problems that a phlebotomist may encounter when using a butterfly needle for blood collection?

The following are the problems that a phlebotomist may encounter when using a butterfly needle for blood collection:

1. With the smaller gauge size, it becomes a problem for phlebotomist as the time required for blood withdrawal is more and a slow process

2. For a normal blood withdrawal procedure the correct size needle in important and it can lead to multiple withdrawal and multiple puncture wounds due to small size

3. As butterfly needle is smaller, it comes off easily if yanked and have to be correctly inserted and watched on

4. The butterfly needle can mostly be used by phlebotomists for only IV infusion for short time periods as it has chances of blockage and it could hurt the veins and even nerves if experience phlebotomist use it.