Capillary blood sampling has become one of the most common ways of checking things such as anemia, blood sugar levels, thyroid function, and many other things. But the best thing is, it lets you check for the aforementioned things without taking too much blood and causing too much pain. The traditional venipuncture, which draws blood from a vein, is a complicated procedure and cause some pain.
When using a capillary tube to collect blood, the site you’ll be taking blood from needs to be cleaned and punctured with a lancet. But, what’s the best site to take blood from? In this blog, we’ll tell you about some of the commonly used sites for collecting blood using capillary tube. Let’s take a look at them.
Finger
In both children and adults, blood is usually collected from either the third finger or fourth finger. The thumb is not chosen as it contains a pulse and if punctured, it may bleed profusely. The index finder is not chosen either because it is calloused or sensitive. And since the little finger cannot prevent the lancet from hitting the bone as it lacks enough tissue, the pinkie is not considered for collecting blood using capillary tubes also.
Heel
Infants’ fingers are rather tiny and not ready for blood collection through capillary tube. So, instead of fingers, heels are used. The puncture is done not on the bottom of the heel but on the farthest lateral or plantar surface’s medical aspect of the heel.
Ear Lobe
This fleshy pendulous part of the external human ear has been commonly used for capillary blood sampling for a long time. But now, it has been advised by the medical community to not use this site for collecting blood. The reason is, blood flow in the ear lobe is quite less than the flow in the heel or the finger tip. If using other sites is proving difficult for some reason, you can use ear lobe in that case for collecting sample.
Great Toe
If no other site is available for an infant, you can consider using big toe for sample collection. Just keep in mind that you can do this only with infants who’re not yet walking. Once a child commences walking, callous starts forming which impedes blood collection and therefore considered a contraindication.
Palm
If necessary, you can also use palm to collect blood samples. There are two areas, thenar and hypothenar eminences, on our palm that contain the same level of circulation that is found in fingertip.
Apart from these sites, abdomen or thighs are also used for collecting blood but normally it is advised one shouldn’t use these areas for blood collection. If you’re looking for top-quality blood capillary tube, you can buy it from All Star Medical Supply. We’re an experienced company that’s been in laboratory diagnostic supplies for many years now. For quality laboratory supplies, look no further than All Star Medical Supply.