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Can Vacutainer Needles Break During Blood Test

Posted , 2 users are following.

paul75665
paul75665

Hi All

I'm probably being paranoid here but I had a number of blood samples taken about an hour ago, with the nurse using the normal Vacutainer method (the needle attached to a tube where vials are then inserted to draw blood). Now I'm usually ok with blood tests, but for some reason this one hurt more than usual, and it's left me with this slight feeling the needle is still in my arm. The nurse was focussed on the job in hand so I presume if the needle had broken then she would know about it. I was just wondering how safe these needles are and if there's any chance that a part of it might have broken off? Also, what would happen if a part had broken off?

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

0 likes, 2 replies

2 Replies

  • george16226
    george16226 paul75665

    Posted

    The probability that the needele tip broke is 0.000001 if not 0.Also i cant imagine a nurse missing a broken needle.If there was a piece of the tip in your arm you would be able to tell almost immediately.The area will be red, very painful to the touch(probably it will hurt without even touching).If your arm hurts it is because a hematoma was caused by the needle.The area will turn from red-bluish to yellowish and it will disappear ina week or 2.
    • paul75665
      paul75665 george16226

      Posted

      Thanks for the reply George, much appreciated.

      It doesn't hurt now and there's no swelling or bruising so I'm guessing all is ok. I know it was a bit silly of me to worry, it's just it never hurt as bad as this as with my previous blood tests, and just got me wondering.

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