We hypothesized that diversion of the first milliliter of venipuncture blood-the initial specimen diversion technique (ISDT)-would eliminate incompletely sterilized fragments of skin from the culture specimen and significantly reduce our blood culture contamination rate (R). We studied our hypothesis prospectively beginning with our control culture (C) definition: one venipuncture with two sequ...

INTRODUCTION This study aimed to establish whether an alcoholic antiseptic, wiped or not before venipuncture, may jeopardize alcohol testing with a commercial enzymatic assay and a reference head-space gas chromatography (GC) technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS Venous blood was collected from 23 healthy volunteers, with two sequential procedures. In the first blood collection, 2 mL of alcoholic ...

OBJECTIVE A randomized controlled trial compared a reusable device combining cold and vibration to standard care for pediatric venous access pain relief. METHODS Pediatric emergency department patients received either the cold vibration device placed 5 to 10 cm proximally throughout venipuncture or standard care control (primarily vapocoolant spray). Block randomization of patients with or wi...

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal configuration of an investigational, single-use, needle-free, drug system (ALGRX 3268) that delivers powdered lidocaine into the epidermis for the rapid production of local anesthesia among pediatric subjects undergoing venipuncture. METHODS Children 3 to 18 years of age were randomly allocated to receive 1 of 3 treatments, ie,...

INTRODUCTION HIV-infected patients require antiretroviral treatment for life. To improve access to care, CD4 enumeration and viral load tests have been redesigned to be used as point-of-care techniques using finger-stick blood. Accurate CD4 counting in capillary blood requires a free flowing blood drop that is achieved by blade incision. The aim of this study was to assess the attitude of the p...

INTRODUCTION Distraction is a non-pharmacological intervention aimed to reduce procedural pain in children. Venipuncture is one of the most widely used diagnostic and therapeutic procedure in pediatric patients. Analgesia during venipuncture may be efficiently achieved with distracting techniques. OBJECTIVE To describe active and passive distraction techniques to reduce distress in children u...

Increasing evidence has demonstrated that pain from venipuncture and intravenous cannulation is an important source of pediatric pain and has a lasting impact. Ascending sensory neural pain pathways are functioning in preterm and term infants, yet descending inhibitory pathways seem to mature postnatally. Consequently, infants may experience pain from the same stimulus more intensely than older...